Teaching is a demanding job that involves big responsibilities towards student´s success. Even though a lot of people consider the teaching major as a suicide, it is a rewarding job. It is common to hear expressions like: “How can you deal with many kids? I can´t understand how do you work with many teenagers and don’t get crazy”

However, teachers have different opinions and value this beautiful profession. As teachers, we see the potential our students have. We get to love our students and get happy whenever they succeed but if we consider teachers as persons, what are those facts that make them effective?

James H. Strong on his book Qualities of effective teachers, chapter two explains seven characteristics of teacher as a person. I will consider two of them.

First I want to consider how well teachers know their students. As every student is different and has his personal needs and learning style, teachers must know his students in order to create a positive relationship that keeps the lines of communication opened.

Knowing students and their personality lets the teacher identify student´s potential, develop good relationships that allows him to show his interest on their achievement.

Second I would like to consider to what extent the teacher promotes enthusiasm and motivates his students towards learning. As students have a direct relationship with the teacher every day, they really appreciate when the teacher shows some interest on them.

According to Susan Eva Porter on her book Relating to Adolescents, Students have personal psychological needs of being accepted and they are aware whether the teacher cares on their learning or not. Thinking on this we can say that an effective teacher recognizes that students vary in their motivation levels, so they know how to support them intrinsically and find ways to provide extrinsic motivation to students who need it. When teachers are able to do this they motivate their students to be responsible, set high standards and become autonomous. Students also turn exited to learning so that they feel comfortable showing enthusiasm.

In my personal opinion both characteristics take an important role in the teaching life. In my experience as a teacher I have realized that students appreciate those teachers who motivate them to work hard and show them a real concern on their success. I remember one of my students who use to extremely misbehave since he was in kindergarten but when I received him on 5^th grade I realized that he was just trying to call other´s attention. I started to analyze his behavior and to show that I really wanted him to be different. One day the coordinator of the Biblical School decided that teachers must wear black pants, white shirt and a tie.

The first day I wore that uniform that student was really impressed and started asking me what I was wearing differently. The next Sunday he was wearing black pants and a white shirt when he was accustomed to wear jeans, polo shirts and sneakers. I understood that he was trying to be like me so after the class a talked to him and he said that He was happy on finding a teacher who really cares on him and since that day he started to behave differently and work hard.