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    Great Teachers Are "Chill." A Great Teacher Doesn't Take

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    Johara Bayabao
    Azul Terronez, an educator of over 20 years, asked his students what makes a good teacher great in an effort to improve his own teaching. He received over 26,000 responses from students at various schools. While some responses were vague, certain patterns emerged that provided insight. For example, when students said "great teachers eat apples," Terronez took this literally and began eating apples each day, which strengthened relationships with students. Overall, Terronez learned that students want teachers who are good listeners and will help when students struggle, not just assume their abilities. He encourages teachers to ask students for feedback on how to become a "great teacher."

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    Great Teachers Are "Chill." A Great Teacher Doesn't Take

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    Johara Bayabao
    1K views8 pages
    Azul Terronez, an educator of over 20 years, asked his students what makes a good teacher great in an effort to improve his own teaching. He received over 26,000 responses from students at various schools. While some responses were vague, certain patterns emerged that provided insight. For example, when students said "great teachers eat apples," Terronez took this literally and began eating apples each day, which strengthened relationships with students. Overall, Terronez learned that students want teachers who are good listeners and will help when students struggle, not just assume their abilities. He encourages teachers to ask students for feedback on how to become a "great teacher."

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    Azul Terronez, an educator of over 20 years, asked his students what makes a good teacher great in an effort to improve his own teaching. He received over 26,000 responses from students at various schools. While some responses were vague, certain patterns emerged that provided insight. For example, when students said "great teachers eat apples," Terronez took this literally and began eating apples each day, which strengthened relationships with students. Overall, Terronez learned that students want teachers who are good listeners and will help when students struggle, not just assume their abilities. He encourages teachers to ask students for feedback on how to become a "great teacher."

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    1K views8 pages

    Great Teachers Are "Chill." A Great Teacher Doesn't Take

    Uploaded by

    Johara Bayabao
    Azul Terronez, an educator of over 20 years, asked his students what makes a good teacher great in an effort to improve his own teaching. He received over 26,000 responses from students at various schools. While some responses were vague, certain patterns emerged that provided insight. For example, when students said "great teachers eat apples," Terronez took this literally and began eating apples each day, which strengthened relationships with students. Overall, Terronez learned that students want teachers who are good listeners and will help when students struggle, not just assume their abilities. He encourages teachers to ask students for feedback on how to become a "great teacher."

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    Researchers often ponder the question: What makes a good teacher

    great? Azul Terronez, an author and former educator, has repeatedly


    asked students the same question for over 20 years. He has collected
    26,000 responses from students and has noticed a few patterns that
    have emerged from his research. Watch him share his findings in his
    powerful TedTalk:
    Check out eight highlights from Terronez’s findings:

    1. Great teachers eat apples. Terronez identified this common


    answer to symbolize that great teachers are open to receive gifts
    from students. The apple stands as a symbol for the relationship
    and trust that is shared between teachers and students.
    2. Great teachers are “chill.” A great teacher doesn’t take
    themselves too seriously. Terronez found that many students like
    a teacher who is calm in all situations and doesn’t get
    overwhelmed easily.
    3. Great teachers think like kids but act like adults. Students
    often want teachers to think like them and to be able to
    understand what their thoughts are like and how they’re feeling.
    Students often convey their feelings to adults in subtle ways, and
    great teachers are able to pick up on that.
    4. Great teachers love to teach and learn. Students like to see
    their teachers learn in front of them. A teacher who demonstrates
    the journey that is learning is valuable to students.
    5. Great teachers connect learning to real life. Terronez found
    that great teachers don’t just live in their classrooms, they’re out
    in the world! Students appreciate teachers who demonstrate
    their knowledge in a way that resonates and makes sense to
    students.
    6. Great teachers understand that students have a life outside
    of school. Every student experiences their own set of struggles
    and adversities outside of the classroom, and great teachers
    acknowledge those problems.
    7. Great teachers help students if they notice a struggle. Great
    teachers don’t assume the ability of their students. Rather, they
    push students to succeed and help them when they’re stuck.
    8. Great teachers sing. Great teachers make themselves humble
    before their students and take risks.

    As you gear up for another year, it may be worth taking a minute to


    ponder a few of these. Are you the “great teacher” your students want
    and need?

    Through this enlightening and persuasive video, Azul Terronez exhibits his obsession with the
    question “what makes a good teacher great?”. Astonishingly, even after compiling a huge
    database of responses, he is still perplexed. He is not sure what makes a good teacher great
    because of all the confusing, vague replies that he got. In this talk, Terronez displays one
    amusing reply that got - “great teachers eat apples”. At first glance, this response came senseless
    to him but slowly, by practising this action for quite a few days, Terronez realised that students
    liked this practise and in fact, the apple acted as a symbol for the relationship between him and
    the students. Thus, through this video, Terronez explains how the responses of the students can
    be carefully deciphered to find out what they expect from a great teacher. By citing examples of
    such responses from students, Terronez explains us how such small realisations can elevate a
    good teachers to becoming a great teacher.

    Azul Terronez, an educator for over 24 years, asked his students the following question: what
    makes a good teacher great?

    Mr. Terronez has received over 26,000 student responses from eight very different schools,
    “from the poorer schools in Los Angeles, to suburban schools in Texas, to elite private schools
    abroad,” and still is contemplating the best answer to this question.

    Some students replied that “a great teacher eats apples,” so Mr. Terronez started to eat apples.
    As he began eating apples for breakfast, between classes, in the hallways, the students “would
    smile, and I would smile back. It wasn’t until I understood that kids wanted to see me as someone
    who was willing to receive a gift from them. That the apple was a symbol for our relationship.
    There was goodness in that, and trust.”

    Several students said that “a great teacher sings,” and so one day, Mr. Terronez sang his agenda
    for the day, operatic-style. “The classroom erupted in cheers and applause,” and one student, on
    his way out of class, put his hand on Mr. Terronez’s shoulder and said, “I told you a great teacher
    sings.” Mr. Terronez demonstrates how great teachers can, and should, “make themselves
    humble before their students,” by taking risks and putting aside “their fear to try.”

    Overall, Mr. Terronez concludes that students want teachers who listen. According to Mr.
    Terronez, children have “a way of communicating, and adults haven’t spent the time listening.” He
    recalls a struggling student who often challenged him, but always completed the work in class.
    One day, this student stopped turning in homework. Mr. Terronez approached the student
    about the missing homework, to which the student replied, “I’m trying.” Days passed and the
    homework showed up, half-completed. Mr. Terronez spoke with the student again and the
    student explained, “I normally do my homework in the bathroom because it is the quietest place
    in my house, but this week the electricity was turned off and it’s dark in there. I had a candle, but it
    burnt out and I’m sorry.” Mr. Terronez heard the student say “I’m trying,” but he forgot to listen.

    So, what makes a good teacher great?

    “Great teachers notice when there’s a struggle. They don’t make assumptions about what kids can
    and cannot do. They wait and watch and they rescue them when they’re stuck. Good teachers hear
    them, but they don’t listen.” Mr. Terronez encourages all teachers to become active listeners, to
    engage with their students beyond the classroom doors, and to take more risks in the
    classroom. Most importantly, Mr. Terronez wants teachers to ask their students “What makes a
    good teacher great?” and to listen, not just hear, the answer.

    Continue to follow the blog for more inspirational stories!

    -Melissa Hoppie, Graduate Student Researcher

    No matter what our profession is, we all strive to be the best we can be. As an
    educator, you probably want to help your students reach their full potential, and
    work hard to give them the knowledge and tools they need to be successful.
    Basically, you want to be a good teacher. But what makes a good teacher great?

    If you’ve ever asked that question, you’re not alone. Azul Terronez, an educator
    for over 20 years, said he was “obsessed” with that question. So, he decided to
    ask his students what they thought made a good teacher great. He shared his
    findings at a TEDx event earlier this year.

    According to 26,000 students from eight different school all across the country,
    these are eight things that make a good teacher great.

    “A great teacher eats apples”


    “When I first saw this, I dismissed it as silliness,” says Azul, “but it appeared again
    and again.”
    Azul decided to follow the advice – he started eating apples. All throughout the
    day, he would eat an apple. After a while, kids started giving him apples, and they
    would comment on him eating an apple that they had given him.

    “Kids wanted to see me as somebody who is willing to receive a gift from them,”
    he says. “The apple was a symbol for our relationship. There was goodness in
    that, and trust.” By listening to his students, he was able to connect with them in
    way that he perhaps wasn’t before.

    “A great teacher is chill”


    A little interpretation might be needed here. Azul explains, “When they say, ‘A
    great teacher is chill,’ what they really mean is: ‘Don’t take it too serious. Be calm
    in all situations. Don’t get overwhelmed.'” This goes back to being willing to
    listen. “They have a way of speaking to us about what they really want to tell us,
    but we have to listen.”

    So, what are they trying to say when they say ‘A great teacher is chill’? Another
    student put it this way:
    “A great teacher thinks like a kid but acts like an adult”
    Yes, young ones have their own language, their own way of communicating, and
    they want their teachers to be a part of that. “They want us to think like them and
    understand what’s inside of their head,” says Azul. “They want us to see their
    world inside of them. But they don’t want us to act like them; they want us to be
    calm and protect them and keep them safe.”

    “A great teacher loves to learn”


    This may seem odd. After all, a teacher’s job is to, well, teach. So, why is it
    important for a student to have a teacher who loves learning? How does it
    benefit them to see their teacher being willing to learn?
    “Kids want to be inspired by this idea that
    learning is important.”
    Azul realized, “Kids want to be inspired by this idea that learning is important.”
    Teachers can set a powerful example.

    “A great teacher isn’t a teacher”


    How can a teacher not be a teacher, but still be a teacher? It doesn’t seem to
    make sense. Azul was equally confused, so he gave it some thought.

    He thought back to when he learned how to ride a bike. How did his mother
    teach him? She put him on his bike, and started to push the bike. She stayed with
    him for a while and then let go. That’s how he learned to ride a bike – by riding it.

    Azul then imagined what it would have been like if his mom taught him to ride a
    bike in a classroom.
    He imagined it this way: “Son, first, you need to learn all the parts of a bike.
    There’s the pedals and the crank, and there’s a chain that turns the wheel. You
    have to have a significant force; once the force has enough momentum, you can
    keep your balance. That’s how a bike works. I want you to learn all the parts, be
    able to label them and draw them. Then you’re going to learn and write a
    research paper about the history of bike riding. All the important elements, the
    adventure, the development of bikes. And at the end of that, you’re going to take
    a final examination. If you pass and get an A, you can ride a bike.”

    How motivated would he have been to learn? “At five years old, I think I would’ve
    said, ‘Never mind, I’ll just walk.'” He points out that this illustrates a potential
    problem. Sometimes sitting at a desk isn’t the best way to learn. “We don’t really
    value learning this way. So no wonder [students are] disruptive, or bored, or
    disengaged.”

    Azul came to the the conclusion that being a “teacher” doesn’t have to just mean
    giving lectures while students sit and listen. “Kids want us to be teachers that
    aren’t teachers.”
    “A great teacher understands that students have a life
    outside of school”
    Azul told a story about a former student named Yvette. One day, she stopped
    turning in her homework. Azul talked to her and made it clear that her
    homework needed to be turned in the next day.

    The next day, she turned in just a few sheets of unfinished work. He talked to her
    again. She finally explained what was going on. She said, “I normally do my
    homework in the bathroom because it’s the quietest place in my house, but this
    week the electricity was turned off, and it’s dark in there. I had a candle, but it
    burned out. And I’m sorry.”

    “I had missed the point,” Azul said. “I had not listened when she said, ‘I’m trying,
    Mister.’ I heard the words, but I didn’t listen.”

    So what’s the key? One student put it this way:

    “A great teacher helps students if they notice a struggle”


    Once again, Azul points points out the importance of listening. “[Great teachers]
    don’t make assumptions about what kids can and cannot do. They wait and
    watch, and they rescue them when they’re stuck.”

    “A great teacher sings”


    It seems like a strange answer, but several students said it. “It happened every
    year for ten years; at least one student would put this,” says Azul. Just like the
    “advice” to eat apples, Azul decided to give this one a try.

    “The next day, I put the agenda on the board, listing all the activities of the day,
    the expectations, and the homework. And instead of actually reading them, very
    seriously, I sang, in an operatic style, big as I could.” What happened?
    “Great teachers make themselves humble
    before their students.”
    Azul says, “I expected pointing and laughing. But the classroom erupted in cheers
    and applause. There was a standing ovation. I could not believe it. At the end of
    class, they walked out, gave me high fives and handshakes.” The lesson?

    “Great teachers make themselves humble before their students. They take risks.
    They put aside their fear to try.”

    Azul summarized his message: “We need to listen to our students. In our
    classrooms are the future…Can you imagine if we took the time to ask those
    students, ‘What would make a good teacher great?’ and then we actually
    listened? We could transform schools and education.”
    This is a summary of Azul Terronez’s talk from TEDxSantoDomingo in 2017. Watch
    the full 15-minute talk by Azul in the video below.

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