Top Ten Characteristics of Great Teachers of Students with EBD

Submitted by Susan Fielding Rismiller

Great Teachers of Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders . . .

10. Enjoy interacting with students, even when the issues are intense and complicated. Kids sense the joy Great Teachers feel about students and teaching.

9. Create a learning environment that supports active, easily distracted students. Classroom arrangement, planned schedules, and effective lesson delivery help to reduce disruptions in a Great Teacher's classroom.

8. Support students' social/emotional needs by using positive, instructive praise, and creating successful/appropriately challenging learning experiences.

7. Engage in relevant professional development opportunities. Great Teachers build expertise in effective teaching practices, behavior management, AND strategies for supporting our students' emotional needs.

6. Know their subject matter in depth. Great Teachers are prepared in advance with detailed, comprehensive plans presented in the learning modality most advantageous to that particular lesson.

5. Differentiate instruction to meet the needs of individual students. Great Teachers know the value of adapting and modifying teaching so that their students learn.

4. Are flexible and open to new ways to meet students' needs. Great Teachers recognize when it's necessary to change-up a lesson "on the fly"; their preferred teaching style is never as important as a child's learning needs.

3. Deal directly and fearlessly with students' emotions. Great Teachers understand that until educators SEE the behavior/feelings, they can't begin to address them.

2. Maintain a consistent, comprehensive behavior management system, including making individualized arrangements for the special behavior needs within the classroom. Great Teachers know that one size does not fit all.

And the number one characteristic of GREAT TEACHERS FOR STUDENTS WITH EBD IS THAT THEY . . .

1. Build positive, trusting relationships with students. Because trust is the cornerstone of success with students with EBD, Great Teachers are intentionally, absolutely consistent, fair, and honest with their students.