From a presenter to a teacher

Most of us, who are new to the profession assume that teaching is equivalent to making a good presentation. This is further reinforced by the ppt culture wherein we end up putting everything we want to speak on a ppt. But teaching is much much more than making a good presentation, though it might be a necessary condition but not a sufficient one . Difference are many but some of them which I found to important as a teacher one of the most important skill is that of listening to your students, asking questions to make them think in the classroom and responding to their questions. Developing these qualities take time and normally not very critical in making a presentation but are vital for a good teacher. The transition from a good presenter to being a good teacher is a gradual one which takes time.

A presenter can afford to be very structured and calculative , a teacher has to be more slow , repeating issues and emphasizing concepts, not because students will not be able to absorb in one go, but because repetition reinforces the message. The transition from a presenter to a teacher also need the confidence of the teacher to increase, I mean to be a good teacher one has to be more confident than being a good presenter. And the transition time also takes into account the time to build the requires competence in the area which he is teaching.


One of our senior professors here told me that it takes only two years to tell whether a person can teach or not , maybe i think it is essential to make the transition from a presenter to a teacher early enough, though I believe it is getting hampered by the ppt culture , versus the good old days of blackboard teaching....

Should a teacher ever get angry?

In my opinion that as a teacher one carries more responsibility than most of us realize. The word and conduct of a teacher can and will influence the morale and confidence of students. And as a teacher one has to be very careful when he comments or gives his opinion on anything related to the student could be his work, his abilities, his behavior because the student when he listens to him doesn’t take the comment as being given by an individual (Mr XYZ) in his individual capacity but sees it as a judgment by the teacher on his student.

The problem with getting angry while teaching is that one usually doesn’t think much when he is angry so what is says may not be totally thought through and could have adverse impact on students. He would end up losing the focus of teaching and would take time to refocus. And the major issue I feel is that in the process of getting angry with one student the teacher also makes the remaining students uncomfortable and thus loss of focus on the part of the students as well.

So all in all as teacher one has to avoid getting angry, though this should not leading to a chaotic situation in the class. So he has to be on the thin line of controlling the class and not loosing his temper.....