A Teacher's Responsibilities

It's easy to say that all a teacher must do is present information. This attitude demonstrates a very shallow understanding of education.

For teachers who care about the core goal of education--to improve students' lives through learning--exert themselves to do so effectively. This should include the following:

• Present information effectively. Be aware of various learning styles. Provide opportunities for hands-on experience, visual and tactile learning, implementation, and tying concepts in to the big picture (ie: how can this information be used outside of the classroom).
• Motivate students to do their part. No matter what a teacher does or doesn't do, students have the responsibility to attend class, study and fulfill class assignments. Whether or not this happens depends largely on the teacher. Effective teachers find ways to make class presentations more interesting and effective and help students through whatever rough spots arise.
• Use Grading as a tool, not merely a reward or punishment.
• Teach the value of education. This may be accomplished in various ways. By teaching in a way that the subject matter applies clearly to the world outside the classroom, more specifically to the students' lives, students will better feel and understand the value of education. Someday these students will be the ones making the decisions on how to fund and run education. Direct discussions of this topic would also be of great value.
• Be aware of the hidden curriculum. A classroom experience entails far more than merely the subject matter covered and tested. For example, some teachers are strict, others flexible. Both approaches teach different and valuable lessons about what to expect to find in the world and how to deal with it.