Efficacy

Someone once said, "You cannot love another fully until you first love yourself fully." Although "love" isn't necessarily a central focus of success in education, the quote does apply. An educator must be fully developed in their understanding of themselves to be able to connect cognitively, emotionally, and mentally with their various students.

Confidence is also a key component of effective teaching. In a sense, teaching is a performance-you have a set amount of things to talk about and you have an allotted time in which to convey the information/message. A teacher must be confident with their presence in front of the classroom and confident in the information that they are teaching.

Persistence is also key in education. Some students may lack motivation-but i truly believe that, given the right trigger, all students can find inspiration and motivation. Persistence also applies to teaching in front of a classroom. If you have an unruly class-don't give up. There are a toolbox full of tools that can be found to regain control over a class. However, some teachers confuse persistence with stubbornness. Do not do this! Stubbornness can be seen by your students and peers and it is one of the easiest ways to lose the respect of your students and co-workers.

I believe one's work ethic is a telling sign of whether that person will be successful in the classroom. If one is willing to work for what they want and to continue on a goal, even if it seems impossible, they will work well with students and all the unique issues and tasks they bring.

So, if I were to reword the quote to apply to education, it would say, "A teacher cannot connect to their students in the most effective way until they are fully connected with themselves: until they understand who they are and what they have to offer."