There’s already a thread going on bad teachers, so I figured I’d go the opposite route. Hearing all those horror stories of teachers that provided years and years of emotional turmoil made me think of how lucky I was to have such great teachers. All of my teachers, except for a few who just really didn’t care, we’re really good in high school. They all cared and they all wanted to see their students do well. The best teacher I’ve ever had though, the teacher that changed my life, is one of my teachers from middle school. He was one of those people that make you think that maybe getting a teaching job wouldn’t be so bad after all. He was very funny, very smart, and very cool. We had him for our literature and computer class (small school). For literature he tought us foreign ancient language, he even had us memorize the Phoenician alphabet and all sorts of cool stuff. In computer class he took me under his wing and tought me how to program and renewed my love for computers. If it wasn’t for him, I would probably be in a totally different place today. He was a wonderful, amazing person.
So lets here it from you guys - did any one else have a teacher that changed their lives and made school worth going to?
Mrs. Jean Harris, my high school English and Western Civ teacher. She was a fiery little redheaded pistol of a woman; demanding as hell and with high standards to meet.
By senior year we’d been through everything from Greek drama to existentialism.
The final paper had to be at least 25 pages long, perfectly typed, with footnotes, etc. in proper format. (And this was before word processors.) Woe betide anyone with sloppy research or careless grammar. Still remember my topic: concepts of hell reflected in literature, i.e. Sartre, Faust, etc. Another friend had Fabian socialism in lit.; lots of Shaw!
She pounded us hard, but were were ready for university level work. My first two years were a total breeze. While other people were agonizing over learning “how to” I could research and slam out an “A” 20 page paper w/o breaking a sweat.
I’m still using what she taught me. Funny story: as a very lowly grunt at my first real job, a VP ended up having me first proofread then draft his letters! They kept me a very badly paid claims adjustor, but soon people were snowing my desk w/ assorted documents to “just look over”.
Mrs. Harris was a fabulous teacher. Every kid lucky enough to have her, and sweat through the years, came out with a solid basis in essentials.
My current English teacher, Dr. Free, is the best teacher I’ve ever had. She is so… passionate about literature and what she teachers. She works so hard to draw us all into the layers of the books we read and the symbolism and all the good literary tactics and the wrods that authors choose. She also teaches creative writing and she has helped me so much in my stories and poems. And in less than a year!
She has personally made me seriously consider becoming a teacher. Not only a teacher, but an english teacher. Not only and english teacher, but and english/creative writing teacher!
She is the best thing about this school, no doubt about it.
I whined in the other thread about one teacher, so it seems fitting to praise one here. Mr. Andrew Rosen was my junior year American history teacher. It was his first term in a classroom, he was a student teacher under…I don’t remember. Maybe it was just because he was still young and enthusiastic about teaching, but he was a lot of fun and he seemed to really like his subject. He did a few things I still respect, like not making us read the book in order of the chapters (he was trying to get us to see that there was more than cause to things). He’d traveled a bit and told good stories.
I also complained about a teacher in the other thread, so…
I mostly had very good teachers in high school, although I’m embarrassed to admit that I don’t remember most of their names. In college, however, I had both stellar and awful professors. In the stellar category were Prof. Bill Morris, at U.C. Berkeley, who taught introductory Materials Science and Engineering with humor, flair, and conviction. I majored in the subject in large part because of him. He made it easy to understand and predict the behavior of materials, and gave me an analytical framework that informed every other class I took in the subject.
In addition, Prof. Mark Pettit of Boston University taught my Contracts class last year in law school. He was entertaining, but he also cared deeply about his subject and managed to convey a huge amount of information in a very short period of time. He knew the names of all 150 students in the first couple of weeks, and was always available for as much time as we needed outside of class.
Whoa. This thread is way shorter than the bad teacher thread. I’m telling you- bad experiences attract people like…um, well, used syringes attract druggies. It is fun to read about teachers who have nervous breakdowns, have Lolita-esque experiences with their students, and bring guns to class…no wait, that’s Boston Public…
It’s more fun to bitch and complain (now THAT’s fun) but what the hell, I’ll talk about some good teachers.
My last year English teacher. I totally loved her. (Hey the A+ I got the second quarter helped)- but mainly it was 'cause she was really good. We all thought she was great. She didn’t judge people by their grades, but by themselves. And she was really passionate about her subject. Even when I abhorred the books we read, I still enjoyed coming to class. Plus she was like a normal preson you could talk to. Very few other teachers can…she was like a peer of ours. When other adults try to do that, it comes off as insincere, but really she does it well. She also teaches a SAT course which i’m taking this year. Sadly next year she’s leaving. I wouldn’t have had her anyway but still…Sigh.
Also my AP U.S. History teacher- she’s good. Funny and nice, plus she’s unbiased. She rarely tells us her position, and gives us both sides of an argument. So far this year has been great.
My chem teacher rocks too but the main reason I love him is because he’s so hot. And he showed us The Year Without a Santa Claus…that’s probably a different story though. Better get back to- sigh- chem homework…
Without a doubt, my freshman French teacher, Mme Murtland. She ignited my passion for foreign languages and cultures, and taught me a LOT about tolerance of others and different viewpoints. (At this point in my life, I was one of those honors students who was off in her own little high-caliber world and oblivious to the non-honors kids. She changed that.) She’s the main reason I’m a secondary French ed. major.
Also, my freshman English teacher, Mrs. Wildt. We complained, we moaned, we didn’t much like her (and cracked merciless jokes about her - I’m really ashamed of that now, considering…). But we learned a heck of a lot about literature and writing term papers. Looking on my study copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, I sometimes wonder at how much she taught us to get inside literature. And as for writing papers… I knew MLA format, footnoting, and sticking to the thesis COLD by the time I left 9th grade. Plus, she was a saint - I left off the last 10 T/F questions on my final exam, and she called me the next day while she was running the Scantrons through at 8 AM to ask me if I would like to come over and complete those last questions. If anyone knows where she is now, I’d love to send her a thank-you note.
Mr. Gillam, my awesome physics/science research teacher. I never want to touch a math-based science course again, but he was a great teacher and OM coach. Many an early test review session saved my rear on the tests later in the day. And he got me into puns, but that’s another thread for another time.
Mr. Randall, my freshman drumline instructor who was willing to take a musically inexperienced dumbass and turn her into a percussionist of a pretty good caliber. He had a temper, he was a funny little man, but he knew what he was doing. And he got me hooked on music beyond the Top 40 stations and oldies, thank goodness.
My 5th grade teacher Miss Yvonnie was young, blonde, had a great rack and wore tight sweaters. Just the right teacher to have when you’re on the cusp of puberty.
I had a really good math teacher for Math 30 and 31. He really made math seem easy and fun to do. I used to think that math was boring and useless, and that I was terrible at it, but I changed my mind while taking his classes. He was extremely intelligent and had a way of asking you a series of questions that would lead you to your own answer. Now I enjoy math so much, I practice it in my spare time.
I was a little worried when I went back to complete my high school subjects. One of my main worries was high school chemistry. I passed Chem 10 with a mere 50%. My new Chem teacher made it so simple and easy to understand the class actually seemed too slow and too easy.
Mr. Armstrong, my high school math teacher, went WAY beyond the call of duty. Back in 1975, in a rural Tennessee school, he taught a computer math class. Remember, this is pre-PC. Every Thursday after school, he drove the class (5 of us) in his car 30 miles to a community college that had an actual computer. We’d work on our programs all week, then get about 3 hours or so to try to get them to run. The only computer equipment at our school was a keypunch machine.
In 1976, only 3 people signed up for Senior Math (like pre-calc). He gave up his free period to teach us anyway. I’m working on the International Space Station now, and Mr. Armstrong had a definite influence on my decision to pursue a computer related career.
90% of the kids in class hated him. They hated him because he was so unlike any of the other teachers they’d ever had. He was weird. He didn’t teach normally. He hated the concept of grading and refused to ask, or allow his students to ask, yes or no questions. His entire first class period was spent asking every student “what is now?” No matter what you responded, he would argue with you.
When students gave presentations, they would be interupted and grilled at verious points until they swung out their arms and sighed loudly “I don’t know!” Other students were encouraged to do the same.
He taught in a true Socratic method. His work consisted of options, rather than set assignments. Book? There wasn’t one. We tossed it away shortly after starting. No one book could give us the information we needed. What we learned in his class was information from everywhere you could find it.
He taught history, archeology, social studies, worked a second job, and still found time to spend 2-3 hours every afternoon teaching chess club, and too many weekends a year to count on chess tournaments, Model United Nations, and Youth In Government.
The 10% who liked him were very grateful for his commitment. He’s the only teacher I still go visit in high school.
It is fun to read about teachers who have nervous breakdowns, have Lolita-esque experiences with their students, and bring guns to class…no wait, that’s Boston Public…
I wouldn’t have had her anyway but still…Sigh.
Better get back to- sigh- chem homework…