Questions such as these literally hover in the air. It is difficult to avoid posing them to one another or ourselves. It also goes without saying that they are not easy questions to answer. What we do know, however, is that good teaching is difficult work. It is time consuming, intellectually and emotionally demanding, and can be alternately frustrating and exhilarating.
Good teaching is also infinitely varied.
For nearly a decade, I have been objectively observing college classrooms and talking with faculty about what they are doing, why, and the kinds of problems that frustrate them most. Conversely, truly exceptional teaching is more varied and does not always reduce to simple behavioral algorithms. Great teachers are not always charismatic or dynamic. They don't always use the latest technological innovation, or even the latest pedagogical strategy. Yet, by definition, all good teachers are effective at helping students learn largely because they are concerned less with their own performance than with the performance of their students.