As a teacher, I spent a great deal of time listening and learning from those around me, because I knew I had a lot to learn with regard to improving my instructional practice. However, I never regarded any of the observed strategies or shared advice as a singular event that would be the cure-all to all of my teaching woes. Teaching is in art form, and must molded and perfected, over time and with experience.
Now, don't get me wrong, a person must be called to teach, and you either have "it," or you don't. The "it" factor of teaching is not something that can be taught or learned, you just have "it"... those of us in education know and completely understand the importance of "it." While the "it" phenomenon can be enhanced through continued growth and development on the part of the teacher, there isn't a prescriptive model or formal definition of what "it" is. Therefore, to assume or insinuate that there is one "right way" to teach is asinine, and the encouragement of robotic instructional practice will be the ultimate demise of education, period.
So how do you know when you have observed or experienced good teaching? The question lends itself to an answer just as complex as trying to explain love to someone who has never experienced it, but the simple answer is - you just know. When you have observed good teaching, you leave fulfilled, in a sense. You can walk out of a classroom, comfortable and at peace with knowing that you have left tomorrow's future in the capable hands of a fully competent and skilled educator. Similarly, when you witness bad teaching, you just know that, too. It's a feeling, in the pit of your stomach, that tells you something's just not right.
There are several things that can be observed to prove that a teacher is effective, or not... hence, teacher evaluation models. But, the observable practices will vary from one teacher to the next. No two teachers should teach exactly the same things in exactly the same way, and achieve the exact same results. If this were possible, a computer program would have already been generated for a computer to teach. Even with the technological advances in education, the instructional components of many websites consist of the explanations provided by master teachers in the form of written blogs, step-by-step examples, or video tutorials. You can't substitute the human component of teaching, because it is the single-most important element in education, and, as with all things human, it is diverse, complicated, varied, and beautiful!
On a final note, don't seek to conform to the status quo, but rather use what the status quo has proven to be successful and effective, and make it your own. In the insightful words of Oprah Winfrey, "understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege... use it!"
