To all the great teachers and pupils

I would like to pay tribute to all the great teachers I met in the past, and those who I didn't. And especially to thank students that allow us to be better teachers.

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Creativity

'We remain anchored in the outdated idea of transmitting knowledge to develop ourselves in an industrial society and not in a society that pursues creativity and innovation to progress.'

Eduard Punset, May 20014

Science has shown that memories that are set in our mind are associated with an emotion. A student can not learn from a boring or a monotonous way, because the student tends to erase from his mind those moments that have not produced anything. A teacher must be creative in their classes, or let his students to be creative. The student will learn everything that produces an emotion in him/ her (positive emotion) as joy, surprise, amazement, laughter, fun or pride to demonstrate their knowledge. And this requires the teacher to develop their creativity.

I recommend visiting this website that comes to creativity in education:

http://www.revistadocrea.com/

Respect for human beings and Nature

The respect for human beings and the nature that surrounds us is a fundamental quality without a teacher can not teach. We live in an increasingly globalized world, where it is hard not to have a student from another culture or reality to the rest of the classroom. We have also noticed that we depend on the environment to live, and we have to take care of it as much as we have to take care from each other.
We don't have to forget that children do what they see, not what they are told to do. The video shown below, although it may have some shocking scenes, merely to show this reality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dbi2fa2_3nk

We are social animals and are biologically programmed to mimic humans around us, of which we learn. Let us never forget that the behavior of our students depends much more than we think, of our own behavior. We have to get positively influence to their behavior, to help create a more friendly and happy society.

Passion

This entry begins with a dramatization of the poem of Rafael Alberti, 'Pleamar'.

The issue I want to address is passion. The first time I became aware of the importance of passion for any activity that we develop in life was in music class in 3rd of ESO. I remember one fellow who was not of the most brilliant neither sharp in classes, radically changed its attitude in music classes taught by don Miguel. From being a passive and confused student, he became the most attentive and interested when Don Miguel taught us. This teacher loved music and teaching alike, and so he transmitted it. And my partner, who is currently a great musician, he understood that passion, that motivated him without paragon.

The dance seen in the video makes me think that a good artist, whether poet, musician, dancer ... must be passionate about their art, just as a good teacher should be passionate about teaching and learning.

I recommend this blog entry, which discusses the passion in teaching.

http://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/my-passion-education

Curiosity

Curiosity is one of the basic engine that drives students to learn, but it is necessary that teachers incorporate it into their minds.

I remember one of the best teachers I had in college. She was professor of natural sciences, and for an entire course allowed us to be in charge of the school garden. In this garden each student had a plot, in which we had planted a tree. It was exciting to see him grow from week to week, from the first outbreak until we went to transplant into a forest. While it is true that not all seeds sprouted, did not matter because the trees were cared for by all students in the class. Curiosity that we had every time we went to visit the garden was palpable, and this made us more eager to learn everything related to our tree.
I recommend visiting this link that discusses how to promote curiosity in students:

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/06/04/33shonstrom.h33.html

Empathy

Recall that empathy is the mental and emotional identification of a subject with the mood of another.

And why a teacher should be empathetic? Because is responsible of the development of many children, in which influences undeniably greater or lesser way. If a teacher shows empathy with his students, he is teaching these to do the same among themselves, with other people around them, etc. The empatía has demonstrated its role in the development of the most advanced societies, as you can see in this video

http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/redes/redes-nuestro-cerebro-altruista/731612/

Moreover, empathy leads to altruism, which is a quality that should also encourage students to pursue a happier society for everyone.

I'll never forget a conversation to which teachers at the school lead us. The talk was conducted by a musician, who, with songs and videos, was talking about what an NGO was and what they did in many other countries. I will never forget the happiness the man conveyed, and the desire to understand and support that woke us all that day.

The teacher's role in this case, was the contact with this man and arrange the speech.

Patience

As I said in a previous post, one of the qualities that I think a good teacher should have is patience. We must assume that each student has a different pace of learning, and therefore we can not expect everyone in the classroom to learn or move at the same pace. A patient teacher should be able to explain things several times, with the same attention and interest than the first time. It's like teaching cycling; we can not expect to get it right at first, and it must be repeated until the person gets the hang.

I remember a teacher I had in primary school. Sometimes, she asked us to explain things to other students who had not understood the lesson. I remember having a feeling of lack of interest on their part, as it seemed as if she minded having to repeat things. It was never a teacher  I remember with love or affection, perhaps, or among other things, for this.

What do those SPECIAL TEACHERS have in common?

A good teacher can be many things: disorganised, lonely or messy, shy, sensitive or nervous... But, for me, there are some common features that all my exceptional teachers have:

• Passion
• Creativity
• Empathy
• Curiosity
• Patience
• Respect for the human being and Nature
• And, specially, they share a purpose: to make from this world a better one.

Those qualities I can see reflected in this wonderful video, that I strongly recommend you to watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUOf5_K8AwI

What is that blog about

Welcome to besteachers.com!

The aim of this blog is to analyze and compare different aspects that make that a GOOD teacher becomes the BEST teacher. I will illustrate my opinions with examples and anecdotes, and I will remember some of the best teachers I have had throughout my years as a student. Your input and opinions are of great help, since I am also a teacher and any ideas to improve my work will be welcome.

Memories 

My childhood and adolescence are periods of my life from which I have good memories, especially those associated with the school. Apart from friends, I remember many teachers who helped me to be the person I am today. And all of them had one thing in common: they loved to teach. Some were very orderly, other, serious, there were even some that I remember with great respect. But they were accessible, motivated and collaborative with their students. They showed interest in everything you have to tell them, respect for all your projects or opinions, and patience to help you whenever it was necessary.
I especially remember Julia, from my primary school, who was always smiling (except from when we were that noise it was impossible even to listen to yourself). She looked like a big mother, cozy and reliable.
At the secondary school, I have very good memories of Herminia. Once, I remember that she entered the class and she found a swastika drawn at the blackboard. She asked who had written it. When the boy raised his hand, she didn't scold on him; however, she asked if he knew the meaning of that symbol. She did not mind losing one of their hours of Valenciano discusing about that because, in her opinion, 'the symbology of this draw was too important to ignore'. The importance that teacher showed for teaching values ​​was very shocking to me.