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In any field, a teacher should be enthusiastic about what he or she is teaching.  Enthusiasm is contagious. Enthusiasm leads to engagement.  When students are excited about learning, they learn, regardless of the subject matter. The key to making a lesson engaging is preparation.  While other factors like flexibility are important, a teacher should have the lesson plan mapped out.  Nothing is as effective as preparation when it comes to the learning environment.

To learn how to motivate students, a teacher needs to consider each student as an individual.  To be effective, a teacher needs to understand student needs, interests, values, and goals.  A teacher also needs to develop the confidence and trust of the students.  One does this by demonstrating respect for the students as individuals and by maintaining a strong sense of objectivity and setting clear guidelines and rules consistent with the teaching environment.  Students function best when they have a clear understanding of rules and expectations. 

In Dr. Starling's experience, the teacher is the most important factor in student learning, but that doesn’t mean that the teacher is the always the center of attention in the classroom. I believe the teacher should view himself/herself as a learning manager responsible for the growth of each individual in the classroom.  The teacher should maintain students as the focus of the learning activities and use a variety of activities and learning strategies to facilitate learning.