What Makes A Great Teacher

In my opinion there are many different aspects that make someone a great teacher.  The most important of all is a sincere desire to teach.  If an educator truly loves their job, and actually cares about each one of their students they are much more likely to have a successful class because they will create relationships with the students and get to know who they are and how they learn,  Just like Mr. Escalante did in "Stand and Deliver".  Another very important characteristic of a great teacher is bringing fun into the classroom.  Hearing lectures day after day becomes very tedious, and if you are like me, attentiveness begins to dwindle.  This is why I believe all teachers should find ways to make lessons entertaining.  Just as my High School English teacher allowed the class to have debates, there are endless amounts of ways to introduce new activities that are enjoyable and still teach a lesson.   This will keep the students interested and participating with the class.   It is also extremely important for teachers to not only listen to their students, but hear what they have to say.   All too often teachers want to show authority by treating students like they are below them.  I suppose the teacher thinks that this will "make" the students listen and follow the rules, but I have found quite the opposite.  I learned the most from the teachers who treated me as an equal member of society because I felt comfortable around them, and I knew that if I had a question they were more than happy to help me find the solution that worked best for me rather than repeating the part that I did not understand over and over again in hopes that it would suddenly click.  Overall, everything comes back to how much passion a teacher has for their line of work, the more they love it, the better they will teach.