1. What Makes Good Teachers Great:
Characteristics of High-Performing Islamic School Teachers
Omaira Alam
Saturday, January 18th, 2014
3:30 to 4:45pm

2. OBJECTIVES
 Recognize characteristics of great teachers.
 Determine a way forward to improve our own
approach to teaching

3. WHAT IS OUR EXPERIENCE?
Good to Great

4. TEN CHARACTERISTICS OF
HIGH-PERFORMING TEACHERS
Good to Great

5. TEN CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH-
PERFORMING EDUCATORS
1. Sincere/ Authentic
2. Lightheartedness
3. High Aspirations
4. Belief/ Conviction
5. Seriousness
6. Reflective
7. Inspiring
8. Appreciative
9. Spiritual
10.Empowering

6. GREAT TEACHERS KNOW THE
DIFFERENCE…
“Are you so interested in improving your students’
reading abilities that you are willing to change what
you do in your classroom – or do you want to raise
their test scores so that you don’t have to change
what you do in your classroom?”
That is really the essence of education. What
determines what happens in my classroom – the
syllabus, or the students? Do I hold up the standards
at the finish line and watch the students make their
way done the track as best they can – or am I at their
sides, helping them develop the skills they need.
Todd Whitaker, What Great Teachers Do Differently

7. GREAT TEACHERS ARE SINCERE AND
AUTHENTIC
 To your students, to the school, to students’ parents, and to
your profession.
 Work hard to keep your relationships in good repair – to avoid
personal hurt and to repair any possible damage.
 Have the ability to respond to inappropriate behaviour without
escalating the situation.
 Consistently work to improve your understanding of student
needs.
 Have skills to build positive relationships with students of all
types.
 Assume nothing and move forward positively; treat every
person with respect.
 Understand the power of praise.

9. GREAT TEACHERS ARE LIGHTHEARTED
 Create a positive atmosphere in your
classrooms and schools.
 Consistently filter out the negatives that don’t
matter and share a positive attitude.
 Have the ability to ignore trivial disturbances.
 Are not sarcastic to students. Humorous, yes;
sarcastic, no.
 Smile, use humor, but are real.
 You understand the power of praise.

10. GREAT TEACHERS HAVE HIGH
ASPIRATIONS
 Model and nurture high aspirations
 Strive for everyone learning – everyone grows from where
ever they are, so we have to know where they are.
 Have a mission and a knowledge of exactly what they want to
accomplish every day in the classroom; the why and what of
teaching.
 High efficacy.
 Have learned how to plan your time and effort to make the
best use of your skills and resources.
 Establish clear expectations at the start of the year and
follow them consistently as the year progresses.
 Have high expectations for students, but even higher
expectations for themselves.

12. GREAT TEACHERS HAVE STRONG
BELIEFS AND CONVICTION
 Believe in your students, in their potential, and
in the time it takes for openings to manifest.
 Have conviction in what you teach, why you
teach and where you teach.
 Have positive beliefs in your ability to work
successfully with students and to make a
difference in their lives.
 Know that it is the people, not program, that
determine the quality of a school.

13. GREAT TEACHERS KNOW WHEN TO BE
SERIOUS
 Address learning with lightness and yet
seriousness, be upfront about what is not
appropriate .
 When a student misbehaves, your goal is to
keep that behaviour from happening again.

15. GREAT TEACHERS ARE REFLECTIVE
 Be reflective of yourself and what you can do to improve.
 Have well-developed problem-solving skills that empower you
to create and implement plans for overcoming challenges.
 You are adaptable and resilient, and aren’t afraid to be
challenged.
 Engage in reflective practice and are constantly working to
improve yourself spiritually and mentally through life-long
learning. – knowledge from the cradle to the grave.
 You know who the variable in the classroom is: You, the
teacher.
 You consistently strive to improve, focusing on what you can
control – your own performance.
 You have a plan and purpose for everything you do. If it
doesn’t work out the way you envisioned, you reflect and
adjust your plans accordingly.

16. GREAT TEACHERS ARE INSPIRING
 Passionate about what you teach.
 Communicate well.
 Engage, engage, and engage.
 Encourage creativity in the classroom.
 Maintain a positive attitude; teaching is hard, but attempt to
remain encouraging and inspirational.
 Encourage instructional rigor and student engagement as well
as instructional relevance through content knowledge.
 Keep standardized testing in perspective, you center on the
real issue of student learning.
 Care about your students.

18. GREAT TEACHERS ARE APPRECIATIVE
 Appreciate the fact that you've been chosen as
a teacher.
 Have skills to build positive relationships with
parents.
 A collaborative spirit.
 Encouraged by team teaching or co-teaching.
 Understand the necessity of a support network
and seek out friends and colleagues who are
positive and proactive; teaching does not occur
in a vacuum – finding the support you need.

19. GREAT TEACHERS STRIVE FOR
SPIRITUALITY
 Live Islam in your classroom.
 View all curriculum and approaches through an
Islamic worldview.
 Understand the place of adab in acquiring
knowledge.
 Consistently strive for spiritual improvement.

21. GREAT TEACHERS ARE EMPOWERING
 Show students that their opinions matter – really value
them.
 Build trust and a community that can grow together.
 Model and Teach 21st Century Skills.
 Use differentiation, project based learning, thematic
teaching, integrating teaching and real world
connections to build a strong learning environment.
 Learning climate: create a positive atmosphere in your
classrooms and schools.

22. TEN CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH-
PERFORMING EDUCATORS
1. Sincere/ Authentic
2. Lightheartedness
3. High Aspirations
4. Belief/ Conviction
5. Seriousness
6. Reflective
7. Inspiring
8. Appreciative
9. Spiritual
10.Empowering

23. REFLECTIONS, QUESTIONS & RESOURCES
Final Thoughts...

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