IntroductionThe statement “Teaching – thoughts, questions, decisions” summarizes what it means to be an effective teacher. Teachers constantly make decisions about professionalism and ethics, teaching strategies, classroom management, and how to keep their students motivated. These decisions can have a major impact on student learning and their effectiveness as teachers. Questioning is an essential – and one of the most important – teaching skills a teacher can possess. Teachers should be able to ask appropriate types and levels of questions, such as high and low order questions based on Bloom's Taxonomy, and should also be able to respond to student responses. Teachers also need to constantly evaluate and reflect on the curriculum, the teaching process, the learners and their diverse backgrounds, and how this may affect their learning process. DiscussionDecisionsProfessionalism and Ethics“Teacher professionalism” has played an important role in quality improvement. of student learning in Australian schools (Preston, 1993, p. 5). Whitton, Barker, Nosworthy, Sinclair, and Nanlohy (2010, pp. 49-60), divided teaching standards into six categories: academic – formal academic qualifications necessary to become a teacher; ethical – behaving ethically with correct conduct and practice; legal – full compliance with child protection requirements, working with children laws and duty of care; professional – lifelong learning and professional development through reading, research or study; personal – appropriate personal presentation and personal development; and cultural – accepting and respecting all cultures and all members of the school community. Teachers must make decisions in the middle of paper......chart-based teaching (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. Preston, B. (1993). Teacher professionalism: Implications for teachers, teacher educators and democratic schooling. Independent Education 23(4), 4-12. Retrieved from http://edocs.library.curtin.edu.au/eres_display.cgi?url=dc60261746.pdf©right=1University of Tasmania. (2010). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Retrieved April 19, 2011 from http://www.ruralhealth.utas.edu.au/comm-lead/leadership/maslow-diagram.htm Wesley, DC, (1998). Eleven ways to be a good teacher. Educational Leadership 55(5), 80-81. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/pqdweb?did=26126116&sid=1&Fmt=6&clientId=22212&RQT=309&VName=PQD&cfc=1Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, Sinclair, C. and Nanlohy, P. (2010). Learning to teach: Teaching to learn. South Melbourne: Cengage Learning.