What is a Perfect Teacher?

As much as people may complain about public education (secondary and post-secondary), I have had, as a whole, more good teachers than bad. Those teachers who were my favorites did not have the same teaching styles, or even teaching goals. The things they had in common were: a love of their subject, a love of teaching, and the ability to get students interested in what they had to say. As a future teacher, my past experiences as a student combine with my current understanding and goals for teaching to outline some of the methods I will eventually utilize. Reflecting on the many assignments I have done from the viewpoint of "the other side of the desk" has yielded a better understanding of which types of assignments work and which are actually counterintuitive to learning. What is amazing is that no teaching style, teaching philosophy, or teaching method(s) are correct: a teacher needs to have a thorough understanding of the many concepts these things involve. The result is a sort of mental portfolio of strategies to use as applicable in different situations. More than anything else, I see flexibility and reflexivity (thinking back on previous methods and adapting them to changing situations) as important qualities to have as a teacher. Finally, I also think it is important to constantly reevaluate my decision to be a teacher. I hear so many stories of "teacher blowout," but in my opinion, teaching isn't just a job that you drop when you decide you don't like it, but a calling of sorts. The sad thing is, I will never make every student I have interested in literature and writing, some students will resist learning no matter what I try (but I still need to try), and I will sometimes feel that I have not done my best by every student. Through experience, I have to learn to be okay with this, but not give up because of it. I guess there is no such thing as a perfect teacher, but qualities which make someone more likely to have success in the classroom.