10 jobs in one! Scientist, coach, computer whiz … teaching is many professions rolled into one. We asked Instructor readers what it really takes to be "highly qualified."

How do you define good teaching? What makes a teacher "highly-qualified?" For many of us, the answer is "we know it when we see it." We know how we feel about our own teaching, or that of a teacher-friend down the hall, but we find it hard to set a list of criteria. Like good parenting, good teaching is hard to quantify. It depends on your educational philosophy, on your background, and your experience. It depends on where you teach and who you teach, and on the resources available to you. In short, it depends on a whole lot.

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The question, however, has never been more pressing. This school year is the NCLB deadline for ensuring that all teachers in U.S. public schools are "highly qualified." (For more on NCLB, see page 47.) With the deadline fast approaching, Instructor set out to ask teachers how they define great teaching. It's a complicated question--and a personal one for any teacher, whether you're a newbie or a veteran. And your answers were so multifaceted, it was clear that teaching comprises much more than one job.

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BEYOND CREDENTIALS

Teachers we talked to felt that being a great teacher is about much more than having official credentials. It's about having a calling for teaching; about emotionally connecting with kids; about constantly customizing and improvising to meet each student's individual needs.

"I think a teacher can look really good on paper for NCLB, but not have what it takes to be a great teacher," says Liza Mathews, a kindergarten teacher for 12 years in Corte Madera, California. "Some of the qualities are intangible--heart, passion, and a conscientious attitude. They can't be measured."

"So many people have a simplistic view of teaching--that teaching is telling and learning is listening," says Barnett Berry, president and founder of the Center for Teaching Quality in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He adds that NCLB focuses on what teachers know, while overlooking the importance of teaching methods. "Teachers should be assessed not only with paper-and-pencil tests, but also through classroom visits."

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Credentials don't get at the heart of teaching, agrees middle-school teacher Patricia Dancho of Spring Church, Pennsylvania. You first have to love school. "I've got chalk dust in my veins," says the language-arts teacher of 34 years. "If you don't feel that way, don't teach. You aren't doing your kids or yourself any justice."

Principal Susan Masterson of Janesville, Wisconsin also sees passion for teaching and children as essential. Currently the president of the National Association of Elementary School Principals, Masterson says that when she's hiring new teachers, she always asks, "What's the best thing that you've done for a child that you'd like to do again?" She explains, "It's about having empathy, connecting to parts of the students' lives ... that's what our strongest teachers do."

Teaching goes beyond multi-tasking, teachers said; it's all-consuming, calling upon every part of you. "By Friday night, I'm drained," said West Virginia middle-school teacher Barbara Starliper. "By midday Sunday, I'm gearing up again. There's so much going on. Still, I can't imagine doing anything else." Starliper and the other teachers we interviewed agreed--teaching comprises at least the following 10 jobs (now if only it came with all those salaries)!

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER

Great teachers have the insight, patience, and forward-thinking skills of an air traffic controller. With students' abilities all over the map, it is critical that you pick up on the differences and individualize curriculum accordingly.

This takes time and knowledge. "Teachers need to know how to meet kids where they are," says Berry. "Effective teachers use many tools to assess how students learn as well as what they know."

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Teaching is much more demanding than it was 20 years ago, and the expectation for student learning is higher, says Linda Darling-Hammond, professor of education at Stanford University and co-editor of A Good Teacher in Every Classroom: Preparing the Highly Qualified Teachers Our Children Deserve (2005), sponsored by the National Academy of Education.

Recent changes in the economy mean that all children need to master critical thinking to be prepared for a more complex workplace. At the same time, schools are more diverse with students in special education, those whose second language is English, and others with needs unmet by their families. This means that teachers have a tougher job and their skills have to be that much stronger, adds Darling-Hammond.

For example, various strategies are used to accommodate different learning styles. "In a great classroom, there will be small-group discussions, large-group activities, and writing in journals to give the teacher insight into what students are thinking and feeling. The teacher will be taking notes on what each kid thinks and says to find out what works, and will then build on those strengths," says Darling-Hammond.