Great educator's are those people who against all odds teach their children how to love learning. All educators meet those children who simply hate school. These children have absolutely no desire whatsoever to sit in a classroom and be lectured. They would much rather be anywhere else except in that school room sitting at their desk reading a book.

Great educator's are those people who recognize those students who with a little help will become the great men and women of our society so they tend to provide inspiring snippets of information that transform that students desire to reach for more knowledge. So what makes a great educator?

In my opinion there are three things that makes a great educator. Great educator's have a desire to see all students learn. They love their chosen profession and students so much they will go the extra mile to teach the students in their charge. They make their lessons come alive and make sure that all the students are involved in the unlocking of the secrets of the vast universe of knowledge.

Great educator's secondly have a passion for what they do. It has been my experience that when you come across a teacher that is in education because they love helping others learn and grow you have the beginning of a great success story. Usually those teachers don't wait for the parent to initiate a parent teacher conference they do it themselves. And even if the parent does not see the need to help a child develop the great educator finds a way to meet the child's needs.

The third thing I see that great educator's have in common is commitment and dedication. It is not about the money it is all about the child. Great educator's get their joy out of hearing how the children they taught have succedded in life. When a student comes up to me and tell me that I made a difference in their life because I cared it makes me feel that all the struggle and sacrifice was worthwhile. The teacher who wants to scale the mountain of greatness need to develop a desire for teaching excellence, they must be passionate about helping others learn, and they must be committed and dedicated to their chosen field.

To put this in perspective I would like to share one the of the reasons I am writing in this forum. One great educator in my life challenged me indirectly to write about my childhood adventures. She said, "one day some of you will tell your children about this three room school". Ever since that day every chance I get I remind my children and students that I grew up from a child attending a three room school that was filled with disadvantaged students who had hand me down books, used furniture, and little hope of going far in life but here I stand today graduating number ten (10) from my college class. I tell them that what made that teacher so special to me is that she seemed to care about me the student who sat in her class who looked out of the window and day dreamed about the future life that lay ahead. That teacher is the greatest teacher in my life because it was she who inspired me and stimulated this gift of writing in me when I was no more than seven (7) years old.

Learn more about this author, Ronald Claiborne.
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