Ethos

Ethos is often translated as credibility, but with the resonance of ethical behavior.
For you as a teacher, because the students see nothing of us except our class “selves,” this means that we MIRROR THE STANDARDS AND BEHAVIORS WHICH WE WANT OUR STUDENTS TO EXHIBIT.  We cannot expect students to measure up to standards which we don’t meet ourselves.

• Coming well-prepared.
• Arriving on-time.
• Doing the same reading that the students do in preparation for the class, even if it’s the sixth time re-reading the same material.  It helps to make this obvious by throwing in comments like “When I got to this section last night, I had to look up these two words because I realized I wasn’t sure exactly what they mean.”
• Teaching for the entire class period.
• Being open to learning as well as to teaching.
• Appearing to be well-organized both for the day and for the quarter.  This includes having handouts for assignments available about two weeks before due dates, keeping the teacher’s desk as neat as possible, and making board writing legible. 
• Knowing the names of the students within a reasonable period of time.Ways to Learn Student Names
  
• Having a fair system of grading papers and determining course grades – and holding to that system throughout the quarter.
• Having fair expectations of student performance.
• Passing out written assignment sheets and not expecting oral directions to suffice for any graded work.
• Writing clear assignments sheets that are grammatically correct and perfectly spelled. 
• Returning written work within one week of the time it is received.
• Dealing kindly with students as you would expect to be treated yourself.  This means that if you have to confront a student with plagiarism or with anything the least bit embarrassing that the confrontation will happen privately.
• Giving credit for articles you copy and ideas you borrow, and not using student work publicly unless you have received permission to do so.
• Keeping track of student writing as best you can – try not to lose their papers.
• Allowing for individual learning styles and individual interests – this means that you should probably offer more than one choice for a writing assignment.  It might even mean offering alternative WAYS of fulfilling that assignment.
• Scrupulously avoiding favoritism or discrimination.  Ask a fellow teacher to come in and observe the class if you think you might even appear to be tending toward either one.