What are the qualities of a good teacher at the high school level?

I’m thinking about going back to school to get my Master’s degree in Secondary Education, with an English concentration, and wanted to know what the collective thought about teachers.

—What were some of the qualities of the better teachers you had in school?
—What about the qualities of the not-so-great teachers?
—Were there any particular lessons or methods of teaching that stuck with you, either in a positive or negative way?

My son just had his school turned into Oceania for a week to give the students a memorable lesson about the novel. They had students assigned as Thought Police and rules they had to follow to avoid being “tortured” or “vaporized” and he seems to have really gotten something out of the experience.

When I was in school, we did a week or two where the class was divided into Xs and Os to demonstrate the realities of segregation and I still remember that experience.

—Do you have any stories about experiential, innovative or unique teaching methods that might be useful or entertaining?
—What are some of your favorite moments or projects or papers you wrote during high school?