Ask HN: What do you think makes a good teacher?

Re:Ask HN: What do you think makes a good teacher? by mmj on Friday August 14, 2009 @11:28AM (#763176)

Being able to relate with the student.

For instance after I learn a language and am trying to teach someone else the language I just can't see why the person is having trouble learning a certain concept of the language. It all seems so simple to me since I've already learned this language and it's hard for me to be able to empathize with the learner.

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Re:Ask HN: What do you think makes a good teacher? by hackinthebochs on Friday August 14, 2009 @11:59AM (#763256)

This is the key in my opinion. Just to elaborate a bit: you can think of knowledge as a mental structure. The good/great teachers are able to empathize with the students position of not having any of that knowledge, and can effectively build up the entire structure to make what they learned meaningful. The poor teachers just teach the final layer and wonder why people aren't getting it.

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Re:Ask HN: What do you think makes a good teacher? by zandor on Friday August 14, 2009 @02:03PM (#763507)

Couldn't agree more. Great teachers, at least in my opinion, easily recognize all the common pitfalls where people get stuck and help them accordingly.

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