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I want to hear about your experiences with teachers. What made them a good teacher---not only because of the nice things they do but because of the seemingly awful things that they had to do to help you strive and study harder.
Let's hear it....
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From what I remember in highschool, my best teachers were the ones that were feared by most students. I don't know why it worked for me but those teachers got me studying hard and I am so glad that they did not let me slack off. One of them dropped a heavy txt book on someone's desk because that student was falling asleep. Another one refused to let me in his class because I was 3 minutes late. He did not care if you were an honor student or if you were great in class---the late rules applied to everyone. I was so humiliated BUT I learned to arrive EARLY and solve the extra problems on the board, and he helped me get my grades up from a C to an A in Calculus! My gr. 10 world history teacher used to turn beat red all the time when he would yell out across the room to get our attention. I even started having dreams about WWII (a topic we studied), with me dropping water balloons from a fighter plane. His strict, no-nonsense approach to behavior management helped me remember a lot more historical facts than I care to retain. lol. On the other side of the spectrum, I've had exceptionally gentle and easy going teachers nurture my love for arts, drama and music.
Although it's not popular by today's standards, the best teachers I had in grade school made it a competitive environment. I always wanted to be the best student, earn the highest grades, etc. They verbally praised students, gave stickers on papers that earned high marks, and kept us very busy. They kept it competitive to see who could complete the most centers in a day and achieve the highest scores on their work. I was a major people pleaser back then so I thrived in this environment.
Also, my 4th grade teacher chose one boy and one girl from his classroom to research a topic of our choice in the library on our own. I was the girl chosen and did I eat that up! I loved the extra responsibility and the trust that was given to me. I went to the library and researched my topic and wrote my first 'research' paper on dogs in the 4th grade. It was a two month project and something totally above and beyond what my other classmates were doing.
I believe the teachers that I had that were considered 'good' or 'great' were ones that kept me on my toes, challenged me, and gave me a lot of responsibility. Although they were very nice and affectionate, they didn't coddle me academically and expected the very best from me all the time.
Although it's not popular by today's standards, the best teachers I had in grade school made it a competitive environment. I always wanted to be the best student, earn the highest grades, etc. They verbally praised students, gave stickers on papers that earned high marks, and kept us very busy. They kept it competitive to see who could complete the most centers in a day and achieve the highest scores on their work. I was a major people pleaser back then so I thrived in this environment.
Also, my 4th grade teacher chose one boy and one girl from his classroom to research a topic of our choice in the library on our own. I was the girl chosen and did I eat that up! I loved the extra responsibility and the trust that was given to me. I went to the library and researched my topic and wrote my first 'research' paper on dogs in the 4th grade. It was a two month project and something totally above and beyond what my other classmates were doing.
I believe the teachers that I had that were considered 'good' or 'great' were ones that kept me on my toes, challenged me, and gave me a lot of responsibility. Although they were very nice and affectionate, they didn't coddle me academically and expected the very best from me all the time.
I can relate with you. Challenge. Choices. Responsibility. Those motivated me too. It doesn't work for everybody though. I would like to learn how to motivate others who aren't motivated by good grades and academic challenges.
(you eager beaver....hehe. Thanks for the resonse!)
[quote=summers19;5601461]Although it's not popular by today's standards, the best teachers I had in grade school made it a competitive environment. I always wanted to be the best student, earn the highest grades, etc. They verbally praised students, gave stickers on papers that earned high marks, and kept us very busy. They kept it competitive to see who could complete the most centers in a day and achieve the highest scores on their work. I was a major people pleaser back then so I thrived in this environment.
Also, my 4th grade teacher chose one boy and one girl from his classroom to research a topic of our choice in the library on our own. I was the girl chosen and did I eat that up! I loved the extra responsibility and the trust that was given to me. I went to the library and researched my topic and wrote my first 'research' paper on dogs in the 4th grade. It was a two month project and something totally above and beyond what my other classmates were doing.
I would have to say I rated my teachers on how they taught. Not so much the personality. Some were overly strict and didn't know how to teach the material. Some were very nice and the material was the hardest ever. In my opinion, both of these teachers were bad and it didn't strive me to learn.
My best teachers were the ones that gave constant thorough feedback. These teachers even though I didn't like it, expected me to turn in things on TIME. I liked how they required the on time deal.
Since this is not popular by today's standards to be strict, it's getting very hard for teachers to teach. I'm glad you stated this! You do need to be strict and sometimes this does mean having student's fear the teacher.
Today, with lawsuits and oversupportive parents, and a not so good education system, it can be a little risky being overly strict.
Is it legal to yell at students in a classroom? I never found out by curious? It definately should be and hopefully it is.
Where I taught I didn't know what to do. At least to feel comfortable. It seemed like I was either too strict, too easy going, just never good enough. Of course, we are the teachers but it seems hard to be able to run the classes with our own personalities. We are told to act either by the student's or administrators.
If a teacher is strict- that is good, but once again not for everybody. People that hard core rebels don't do very well in this type of environment.
If a teacher is not strict- that is good too, but again and again not for everybody. Kids that want lots of support and strong guided learning may not do well here.
So, teachers need to be themselves. Not everyone is going to like every teacher. And teacher's aren't perfect either.
I remember two teachers the most. My 6th grade teacher because she was completely awful...let the kids run chaos in the room, would just sit there and watch fights.....
And I remember my 8th grade teacher because he was my first funny teacher.
My favorite teacher was the one who taught 8th grade Geography/Gov/Politics (a year long class blending present-day country boundaries, governments, and current events into one). Not a particularly enthralling subject for 14 year olds - but he was EVERYONE'S favorite teacher (by word of mouth and by a student poll printed in the school paper).
In addition to actually teaching the material in a no-nonsense way, he was FUNNY. He frequently told quick personal stories, horror stories from his tour during the Vietnam War, and making light-hearted cracks on other faculty members. For me, this brought an element of personality into the classroom - not some boring drone just spewing information.
Every week we had to memorize a group of countries, their capitals, current government...as well as bodies of water, mountain ranges, etc. We were tested weekly, and at one point I actually did know every country, its map location, and capital (not any more!).
He had no tolerance for inadequacy with the notion that if one student got an A on a test, everyone could - meaning the test wasn't impossible or too hard. Quite the opposite of "no child left behind". I got an A in that class, as did all of my friends because we PAYED ATTENTION.
In comparison, that same year I had the worst teacher ever. Zero personality, shouting, insulting, making a boring lesson plan even more boring. I don't think she ever cracked a smile. Many, many afternoons I left her class in tears after being humiliated in front of the class for not knowing how to do something. Even my mother was afraid to talk to her when I came home crying. (This was "computer science" in 1988 before Windows and GUIs existed - it was not fun.)
To this day when I ponder the possibilities of traveling back in time, she's always in my list of people I'd kick the crap out of it I could go back now.
My best teacher was an nasty ol' witch of a woman back in the 6th grade in a tiny little northern Michigan town we had just moved to. McBain was a small rural farming community that held it's students to some really high standards. This woman rode me all year in English and Social studies and I really truly hated her at the time. Jump ahead a couple of years and I realized she stayed on my case because no other teacher ever had and I had HORRIBLE study habits and was way behind in her subjects. She stuck with me and never let me slide once in her class just as she didn't let ANY of her students take the easy way out. I came out her class with a better understanding of the mechanics of the English language than I ever had before and a real love for challenge in school. She had made me want to excel, just to prove her wrong and have stuff done before she even asked for it. It was the first time I had ever been on the honor roll and I stayed on it the entire time I was in that school system.
I had not thought of her in years until I read this question and almost put down a teacher I had the most fun with. But, with a little more thought I knew she was by far the better teacher than he was and I learned more from her, that has served me well in the years after her class than any other teacher I have ever had. I wish I could tell you her name, but that for now is lost to my memory thanks to the mists of time. 1976, English teacher for 6th grade at McBain, MI rural agricultural School. Thank you where ever you may be!
The teacher that stands out the most in my memory is my US History teacher. Back in high school, my life at home was a total mess. I had so little self-esteem that I thought I was invisible, even to my teachers. This teacher looked me directly in the eye and spoke my name every day that I walked in the room. I remember being shocked when it first happened. Throughout that year, she demonstrated that I was neither invisible nor worthless. A simple act made a huge difference to me. Today, when my students walk into the room, I stand at the door and greet every student by name. On days when I am tired or busy I remind myself that one of my students may need that contact, and I stop what I am doing and go to the door to greet them.
Three years ago, my mother told me that my former teacher was dying of a brain tumor. Just a day before she died, her family read her my letter that thanked her for her kindness. I'm really grateful that I got the chance to thank her.
Although it's not popular by today's standards, the best teachers I had in grade school made it a competitive environment. I always wanted to be the best student, earn the highest grades, etc. They verbally praised students, gave stickers on papers that earned high marks, and kept us very busy. They kept it competitive to see who could complete the most centers in a day and achieve the highest scores on their work. I was a major people pleaser back then so I thrived in this environment.
Also, my 4th grade teacher chose one boy and one girl from his classroom to research a topic of our choice in the library on our own. I was the girl chosen and did I eat that up! I loved the extra responsibility and the trust that was given to me. I went to the library and researched my topic and wrote my first 'research' paper on dogs in the 4th grade. It was a two month project and something totally above and beyond what my other classmates were doing.
I would have to say I rated my teachers on how they taught. Not so much the personality. Some were overly strict and didn't know how to teach the material. Some were very nice and the material was the hardest ever. In my opinion, both of these teachers were bad and it didn't strive me to learn.
My best teachers were the ones that gave constant thorough feedback. These teachers even though I didn't like it, expected me to turn in things on TIME. I liked how they required the on time deal.
Since this is not popular by today's standards to be strict, it's getting very hard for teachers to teach. I'm glad you stated this! You do need to be strict and sometimes this does mean having student's fear the teacher.
Today, with lawsuits and oversupportive parents, and a not so good education system, it can be a little risky being overly strict.
Is it legal to yell at students in a classroom? I never found out by curious? It definately should be and hopefully it is.
Where I taught I didn't know what to do. At least to feel comfortable. It seemed like I was either too strict, too easy going, just never good enough. Of course, we are the teachers but it seems hard to be able to run the classes with our own personalities. We are told to act either by the student's or administrators.
If a teacher is strict- that is good, but once again not for everybody. People that hard core rebels don't do very well in this type of environment.
If a teacher is not strict- that is good too, but again and again not for everybody. Kids that want lots of support and strong guided learning may not do well here.
So, teachers need to be themselves. Not everyone is going to like every teacher. And teacher's aren't perfect either.
I think that is the hardest thing to do---to remember that you're not there to be liked but to do your job and teach these children what you know. Some teachers just want to please students and parents but sometimes, it backfires and the children walk all over them. Primarily, I find that it is best to be strict and scary at the beginning and then when they know you're serious about business, be their friend in addition to being their teacher.
How were you like with your students? What challenges did you face in dealing with students and their parents?
I remember two teachers the most. My 6th grade teacher because she was completely awful...let the kids run chaos in the room, would just sit there and watch fights.....
And I remember my 8th grade teacher because he was my first funny teacher.
I almost forgot .... humor...of course! Humor and strictness in balance was a good combination for me. I remember this one highschool chemistry teacher who was very goofy. One time we were doing trust exercises which involved me being blindfolded with a partner. He was passing by and turned my body one foot towards the wall. Then he told me to run. lol. Man....he was one crazy teacher. What kind of funny things did your teacher do?
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Thanks for the resonse!)
