What makes a good teacher great? | Azul Terronez | TEDxSantoDomingo

Main ideas, concepts, and lessons

• The core question: “What makes a good teacher great?”
  • The speaker (an experienced teacher) has collected 26,000 responses to this question across eight schools, ranging from poorest Los Angeles schools to suburban Texas schools and elite private schools abroad.
  • After 24 years of teaching, the speaker says they are still perplexed—because the deeper truth is about what schools avoid and fear.

Schools are afraid to hear students

The speaker argues that schools don’t ask students this question for a “particular reason”: schools are afraid. They may assume students won’t take it seriously, and the system doesn’t want to know what kids really think.

Students communicate with their own “language”

Several student answers are presented as symbolic or coded expressions. Teachers must learn to interpret what students really mean, not just the literal phrase.

Listening deeply reveals recurring patterns

When the speaker asks students for their view of great teaching, common answers emerge. The speaker emphasizes that these answers were often consistent across contexts, suggesting generalizable insights.

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Key “student-to-teacher” messages (with explanations)

1) “A great teacher eats apples” (symbolic relational trust)

• What the speaker noticed:
  • The phrase appeared repeatedly.
  • The speaker initially dismissed it as silly, then tested it by starting to eat apples.
  • Students began giving apples and reacting positively.
• Meaning the speaker inferred:
  • The apple symbolizes the teacher’s willingness to receive gifts from students.
  • This signals goodness and trust in the teacher-student relationship.

2) “A great teacher is chill” (emotional safety and calm)

Students aren’t asking for teacher laziness; they mean:

• Don’t take things too seriously
• Stay calm in all situations
• Don’t become overwhelmed

Underlying point: Students want teachers to be emotionally steady, which helps them feel safe.

3) Kids use “Fine/OK” to mean “Don’t ask me / it wasn’t good”

• Example logic (from the speaker’s own experience as a parent):
  • Teen responses often function as coded communication.
    • “Fine” can mean: it wasn’t great, don’t push, you won’t understand.
    • “OK” can mean: it wasn’t good at all; ask more questions but don’t expect full answers.
• Lesson: Adults often fail to listen long enough to understand what students are actually communicating.

4) “A great teacher loves to learn” (learning modeled, not just teaching content)

• Pattern reported:
  • About 70% of the time, students say “A great teacher loves to learn,” not just “loves to teach.”
• Why it matters:
  • Teachers are often hired as content experts—expected to already know.
  • Students wish to see teachers learning in public, including:
    • Saying they don’t know yet but will learn with students
    • Struggling through questions and then discovering answers
• Result students want: learning itself feels inspiring and credible.

5) “A great teacher isn’t a teacher” (learning cannot be reduced to “classroom instruction”)

• Core idea:
  • Students mean that great teachers are not merely “presenting lessons.”
  • They help create enduring understanding, not bureaucratic schooling experiences.
• Bike-riding example (contrasted with “classroom learning”):
  • Real-world learning: Training wheels removed, parent runs behind and gradually lets go—then the child rides.
  • Absurd classroom version (parody): Label bike parts, write a research paper about bicycle history, take exams—then only after an A you can ride.
• Lesson: Kids can sense when instruction is performative rather than genuinely valuing learning—leading to boredom/disengagement.

6) “A great teacher understands that they have a life outside of school” (context, empathy, real constraints)

• Story about “Yvette”:
  • Yvette is described as tough, feisty, and intimidating—yet later becomes a leader by turning in work and participating.
  • After she stops turning in homework, the teacher assumes discipline/attitude issues and confronts her.
  • Yvette reveals the real reason: electricity was turned off, so she couldn’t do homework in the bathroom where it was quiet; her candle burned out.
• What the speaker learned:
  • Great teachers notice struggles and avoid assumptions.
  • They wait and watch, then rescue students when stuck.
  • The speaker concludes: the teacher “heard” her words but didn’t listen to their meaning.

7) “A great teacher sings” (risk-taking humility and joyful engagement)

• The student clue:
  • The phrase appeared for years; the speaker couldn’t sing and wondered what students meant.
• Story about Danny:
  • Danny is described as the class clown, joking during lectures—yet his responses were unusually serious and insightful.
• The experiment:
  • The speaker puts the day’s agenda on the board but sings it in an operatic style.
  • Students react with wide eyes, laughter, and ultimately cheers and standing applause.
  • Danny later tells the teacher: “I told you a great teacher sings.”
• Lesson:
  • Great teachers humble themselves, take risks, and trust they’ll be supported if they fail.

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“So what?”—the systemic critique and the solution

Critique of teacher hiring and school design

The speaker questions why hiring and systems focus on teachers as content keepers rather than deep understanders of students. Students don’t care and teachers don’t listen because schools often never taught listening.

Listening is treated as unimportant

The speaker argues that schools teach:

• Reading: about 3 years of a student’s life
• Writing: about 12 years
• Maybe some speaking (at best): a semester/half year

But students receive “virtual zero years” of formal listening instruction (zero).

Call to action

Teachers and schools should:

• Listen to students
• Ask students what would make teaching great
• Use that input to transform education

The speaker closes by pointing to future world-changers (e.g., Maya Angelou, Mother Teresa, Elon Musk) and implying schools could do more if they listened.

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Methodology / instructional structure (as implied by the talk)

• Collect and use student feedback

  • Ask students directly: “What makes a good teacher great?”
  • Gather responses across varied contexts (schools, socioeconomic groups, regions).

• Interpret responses beyond literal meaning

  • Treat quotes like “eats apples,” “chill,” “isn’t a teacher,” “sings” as symbols for relational and emotional behaviors, not literal tasks.

• Listen deeply (not just hear words)

  • Look for patterns in how students describe:
    • Emotional safety (calm, chill)
    • Relationship trust (accepting gifts)
    • Learning mindset (love to learn)
    • Real constraints affecting performance (home life, electricity, etc.)
    • Teacher risk and humility (sings, tries)

• Model learning publicly

  • Demonstrate curiosity and uncertainty appropriately:
    • “I don’t know yet, but we’ll learn together.”
    • Struggle → discover → share the process.

• Adjust classroom practices to validate students’ perspective

  • Move away from purely compliance-based learning (research papers/exams before real skill) toward authentic, experience-backed understanding.

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Speakers / sources featured

• Speaker: Azul Terronez (TEDxSantoDomingo presenter; described as having 24 years of teaching and collecting 26,000 student responses)
• Translator (subtitle credit): Kesmat El Deeb
• Reviewer (subtitle credit): Riaki Poništ
• Students (named in stories/examples): Yvette, Danny
• Public figures referenced as examples of future greatness: Maya Angelou, Mother Teresa, Elon Musk