The onset of global pandemic COVID-19 has us evaluating everyday heroes through new and different lenses. One of the unsung professions now in the spotlight is teaching. Teachers have always been heroes, standing firm at the educational battlefront, fighting ignorance, and instilling knowledge. In many ways, the public is seeing teachers for the first time. With this newfound respect and attention come the questions: What are the characteristics of great teachers? What about “just ok” or even bad teachers? What separates the true heroes from those who have a job? The answers are neither simple nor easy. As we look back to our own educations and forward to this generation’s education, let’s examine some of the qualities great teachers have, such as adaptability, discipline, and determination.

Great teachers have adaptability. First, this means walking into a room of up to thirty youngsters prepared to corral them for the day, no mean feat. Taking responsibility not only for students’ physical safety and wellbeing but also for their education, great teachers impart facts and wisdom to those same students in a way each can understand. Good teachers recognize each student learns at his or her own particular pace, but great teachers know how to reach each child on his or her level. This is a rare trait in any profession and to be able to do it for hundreds of children each school year is truly heroic. Next are the everyday headaches each school day brings. Great teachers handle the usual and the unusual with equal parts courage and finesse and it’s hard to catch them off their guard.

Virtual and hybrid learning have only added to the challenge. Students are not the only ones adapting to new technologies and infrastructures. Teacher’s jobs have been turned upside down. Even those still teaching in classrooms must do so through a mask or while keeping their distance from students. This means teachers are not only teaching potentially hundreds of students each school year but also learning new technologies and systems simultaneously. Great teachers are adapting quickly and easily because they recognize learning and education are fluid and part of growth. All teachers face integrating new technologies into their classrooms, and this pandemic has brought a new evolution to the education industry. Not all are willing to adapt.

Rather than complaining about the infrastructure or the new technology, great teachers adapt with gusto and conquer the new experience. Before long, these teachers are coaxing and coaching fellow teachers, and they collectively make the school’s investment worthwhile. The ability to teach as one learns and willingness to adapt are characteristics of great teachers. Bad or apathetic teachers either aren’t invested or are unwilling to learn and teach in a manner effective for all students. Adaptability in both learning and teaching is necessary for great teachers to maintain good classroom management.

Great teachers have discipline. This means organization, planning, and authority inside and outside the classroom. Great teachers have their classes down to an art. They are prepared for each school day, each class lesson, and how to approach both. Many of these teachers are organized to a fault. They leave everything out on their desks so even a surprise substitute can pick up right where the teacher concluded. Lessons plans are detailed and materials are ready for the day ahead. Great teachers’ classrooms run smoothly: the rules are clear as well as the consequences of breaking those rules. A fantastic representation of great teachers is their desks. Does everything have a place? Are the lessons planned out for the week, the month, even the quarter? Is everything neat and laid out ready to be used as needed? In most cases, great teachers would answer ‘yes.’

Planning is a direct result of organization. Great teachers are prepared, and they get prepared by planning. Sloppy teachers fail to plan and maintain little organization in their classrooms, which is evident in their students’ behaviors. The work these students submit reflects poor planning in a teacher more than anything. If the information being taught is haphazard and poorly planned, students’ comprehension will be affected and the quality of their work will suffer. Most schoolrooms are overcrowded and full of students who need individual attention. Now, with virtual learning, teachers must also compete with other distractions in the student’s homes. These classes may only meet two hours per week. Great teachers plan each lesson so not a minute of class time is wasted.

Discipline within their persons is another trait of great teachers. Teachers must command the attention and respect of their students, peers, and their students’ parents. This is not to say that great teachers are overly concerned with what others think, but rather that they are pillars of respect both in and outside the classroom. Teachers who try to be ‘buddies’ with their students typically fail on all fronts. They are unable to achieve a level of friendship and they lose the students’ respect. Teachers are responsible for being role models to their students as well as conveyers of education. Poor teachers lack discipline on all fronts whereas discipline shows in a great teacher’s classroom. Everything is organized and planned, students know and respect the expectations, and the teacher carries him or herself with dignity.

Great teachers are dedicated. Dedication to teaching through hardships brought on by bureaucracies and administrations, and now a global pandemic, should be celebrated. Dedication to education, a new teaching style, and individual students’ learning needs is no small task. Great teachers are passionate about the education of others, regardless of the difficulties reaching their students. This means working through the restrictions of the pandemic, technical issues with virtual learning, and anything else parents or administration throw at them. Great teachers embrace new teaching styles and technologies to be able to reach more students because that is their primary aim.

Great teachers have the patience to review the same concepts again and again as they strive to reach each student. It is little wonder many teachers feel personally attached to their students, so involved are they in their student’s daily learning. Great teachers decide every day to reach and help each problem student. They commit to teach through hard days when they feel they’ve accomplished nothing. To reach every student on his or her level challenges good teachers every day. Great teachers take up the challenge and succeed in the face of it. They know the work they do is important to the wellbeing of the world. Especially in these frightening times, dedication both to the craft of teaching and to the education of each student cannot be undervalued.

Adaptability, discipline, and dedication do not come naturally or easily. Each must be learned and practiced to be maintained. The level of determination great teachers are willing to put into each class and each student separates them from their bad or mediocre counterparts. Teachers of all stripes deserve a medal for attacking this new learning style with such bravery, but let us not forget the true heroes are our teachers who adapt to moving and ever-changing situations, have the discipline to stay organized and respected, and the determination to provide a quality teaching experience to all their students.