Describe someone you know who is a good teacher.
You should say:
- who this person is
- how you know him/her
- what subjects he/she teaches
and explain why you think this person is a good teacher.
Model Answer 1:
I have been lucky to come in tough with quite a few good teachers as a student. They all have helped me tremendously in one way or another in order to help me become the person I am today. Mr. Stephen Lee is one such good teacher.
I have known Mr. Stephen for almost 2 years who teaches Mathematics to the students of Junior high school. I met him for the first time when I took my 12 years old nephew to his high school as I wanted him to be a student there. Incidentally, the admission officer wasn’t present there at that moment, and it was Mr. Stephen who helped us take our seats and make us feel comfortable.
I asked Mr. Stephen who he really was, and he introduced himself to me as Mr. Stephen as well as a Senior Mathematics teacher, who also used to teach Science. By the way, my nephew wasn’t really very good student in Math, so I jokingly told him that I had come to the right person because my nephew surely could use a good math teacher. In response, Mr. Stephen told me that he was also very much up for the challenge.
Anyway, after our little but very meaning conversation, the admission officer had arrived and helped my nephew get his admission there. After a month or so, I noticed that my nephew was talking very highly of Mr. Stephen as far as his teaching skills and abilities were concerned. In fact, my nephew told me very confidently that he was going to get a much better score not only in math but also in other science subjects. Needless to say, my nephew proved it in his very next semester results.
Well, I think that Mr. Stephen is a great teacher, mainly because he was very well qualified in the subjects he was teaching. I believe that he is a good teacher also because he understands the individual needs of every student so that he can take proper care of them.
Sample Answer 2:
I can think of a great teacher. Her name is Dawn, I know her because I go to her weekly community fitness class, and I’m going to tell you just exactly why I think she is not just a good teacher, but a really great one!
Dawn is essentially a fitness instructor. There are lots of fitness instructors in the world, but she is unusual in her approach and enthusiasm. She works in the community, so I know her because once a week I attend a class she runs in a cold community hall in a relatively deprived part of the city where I live. Her post is funded as some sort of a health initiative, so the class is subsidised, that means it only costs me £1 (one pound) to attend, which is very cheap. Most exercise classes near me are between six to fifteen pounds an hour, depending on what you do.
I’m not a natural at exercise, I know it’s good for me to keep me healthy, but I’ve never before looked forward to going to an exercise class. Dawn’s sessions are different. On one level, it is a very ordinary session. There are a few movements to music based on dance steps; some stretching; and then typically, a bit of floor work on mats that’s a little like yoga and supposedly helps you to develop your abdominal muscles (core). The one-hour session concludes with some stretching to cool down. The music plays on a tinny old cassette tape machine with terrible sound quality. The hall is light but freezing cold, and the venue a bit tucked away. It oughtn’t to be as much fun as it is.
This fitness instructor is in my view a wonderful teacher because she is funny, enthusiastic, motivational and knowledgeable. It is a very rare combination indeed. The class is very diverse, with a wide age range from probably women in their mid-twenties perhaps on maternity leave, through to self-employed people in their middle age, right through to pensioners who are quite definitely in their late seventies and possibly in their eighties. They may be game and feisty, but they aren’t in their first flush of youth! Despite the broad age range, backgrounds and ability, Dawn includes everyone. She is a gifted facilitator to cater for such a broad range of people within one group session. She knows us all by name, she watches our technique to make sure everyone is safe and getting the most out of the session, but she is positive and encouraging. The class is full of laughter and support. She tells funny stories to distract us, and keeps the exercises moving quickly from one to another so there is never any chance to get bored.
She is also ridiculously encouraging. The way she praises us for our efforts you would imagine we could all be professional dances or gymnasts if we wanted to, our talent is limitless! As a teacher, she creates an environment where we are all confident to try new things, and test our fitness. If we make mistakes, she just laughs, and breaks down the sequence into smaller sections, until everyone is confident with what we are supposed to be doing. She gently advises on technique so that over the short period of time I’ve been attending her classes I feel my knowledge of fitness theory has developed alongside my actual stamina. I wish she did a class every day – there would be no stopping me then!
A good teacher is a rare thing indeed. Knowing your subject may be a necessary pre-requisite for teaching but it is not enough in itself. Having a teacher who can engage, inspire and motivate is what really matters. All of us in the class want to do our best for Dawn, and in doing so, we achieve the best for ourselves as well.
[ Written by – Lucy Marris: Careers Adviser (UK), TEFL teacher (Vietnam) ]
Sample Answer 3:
Mariana Rosaline was a teacher in our college and she used to teach us geography. She is, in my opinion, a very good teacher and I still miss her classes and guidance. I am fortunate enough to get a chance to talk about her and would like to thank you for this great cue card topic.
She was one of the adoring ladies in my college in Bilbao, Spain. In fact, I was one of her wicked students and I bunked lots of classes and later apologised for the mistakes. In fact, I had a gang who used to do such naughty activities. However, she was the lady who occasionally complained about the issues but really cared about her students and advised to be obedient and attentive to the class. She has a beautiful outlook with her curly hairs and large dark eyes. But her impressive look was the concerning issue for us as her personality was quite rigid. Whenever she looked at us, we felt uncomfortable as it gave the impression that she was reading our mind.
I have met with Mariana Rosaline first in my college. In fact, I was unable to realize that she could be a teacher. I thought she was a newly enrolled student like me as she looked too young to be a teacher. Later, I came to know that she was the most talented teachers of the college and loved her students very much. In opposites, she also received many appreciations from her students for her exemplary style of teaching. She was the most adorable teacher to me and I liked her very much as a mentor and a good teacher. She guided almost all of her students with a motherly affection while some of the students tried to misuse her simplicity. They, in fact, misjudged her personality and never thought she could be quite formidable if important rules are violated. She was the only lecturer in the college who avoided any types of punitive measures rather she had regular meets with the guardians. Despite this, we never took her lightly as her personality bound us to respect her and abide by her rules. She invited the guardians and informed about the latest updates of the students. It was a tricky way indeed to generate attention in academic activities.
She was a Geography teacher for the eleventh graders. She had a higher degree on the subject and thus felt quite comfortable in teaching the subject. I was amazed at her skills in making us listen to her lectures. She rarely used books in her class. Instead of books, she used some PowerPoint presentation to make the details clearer. Actually, her method of teaching was really great. On the other hand, she was also responsible to maintain the overall activities of our class. She was assigned as our class teacher for a semester. I found that her organizing ability was better than any other teacher in the college. Often she used to discuss the geographical and environmental issues and tried to teach us lessons which are out of the syllabus but quite important and interesting for us. When she discussed the environmental science, she told us about many interesting facts and shared valuable information which appeared helpful during the exams even after we left college.
She is really a good teacher and possesses all the qualities to guide a student in the right manner. Though she lived in the same area of mine here in Bilbao, which was about two hours’ journey to the class, she was never late for the classes unlike me. Basically, the distance of the college was a bit far from the locality I lived in and I was a latecomer in the class while she was the opposite. As a teacher, she never missed her classes, rather, she went to college even before anyone reached there. She never rebuked us but made us feel guilty with her soft and wise words. As a result, we used to impress her with better grades. I think this is the thing that a teacher wants from students.