What makes a good teacher?

What does make a good teacher? Is a good teacher an entertainer? Is a good teacher full of qualifications? Here is a Will Wilkinson blog entry on the topic I found interesting. Look at the comments as well.

In the entry, I came across this provocative statement: Teaching should be open to anyone with a pulse and a college degree—and teachers should be judged after they have started their jobs, not before. There are things that can be said in support of this. In the time I have been able to hire people, I have looked at character and personality more than experience. Although, saying this, I have to hire people because they are warm bodies and not much else. And you really don't know how people will work out...