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Teacher Qualifications, Expectations, and Skills

Teachers are highly intelligent people with an ability to impart knowledge and understanding to their students. Most teachers have defined personal characteristics in common. Among these are compassion, hope, and understanding. They are often driven to make the world a better place, and have high expectations of being able to help students advance, regardless of the obstacles they face.

State and federal law mandates that teachers undergo specified training to work in the classroom. Having a high I. Q. and friendly personality are admirable qualities, but they do not give people a license to teach. They may be the reason a person wants to teach, but they do not substitute required qualifications.

General Qualifications for Teachers

Most states mandate that teachers hold a bachelor's degree from an academic college. Upon receiving this degree, teachers usually perform a fifth year of in service training, under the supervision of a state certified teacher and principal.

Teachers must take and pass state certified tests for their field of specialty. They also must avail themselves to medical and background checks, per individual state requirements. These include receiving updated vaccinations, being cleared of TB, as well as fingerprint checks against the federal database.

Upon receiving their license, teachers must adhere to the governing rules of their respective state. They are often required to participate in Professional Development studies in order to keep their certification up to date. Professional Development includes continuing education courses and in service training workshops. It may even mandate CPR training depending on their field of expertise.

Teacher Expectations

Teachers are expected to plan and implement daily learning activities with specific goals in mind. Before they ever begin instructing in the classroom, they determine goals and guidelines to achieve success with their students. They take into account many instructional strategies that will help their students advance throughout the course of study.

Some of the methods teachers use to impart knowledge are direct and indirect teaching, student interaction and experimentation, and independent study. By combining these methods throughout the year, students of varying learning styles will be able to grasp the concepts required to pass their courses.

Teachers are required to gauge the learning of their students. They will assign work, explain tasks, and

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