The Art of Teaching

[Katy Christensen]

I think we can all agree that there are a lot of factors that contribute to what we've gotten out of high school so far. I have noticed that teachers are a huge one. When I graduate college, I want to be a high school Family and Consumer teacher for preschool, so I pay attention to different teaching styles and things that I think would help me to be a good teacher. I've also come to notice the difference in what makes a good teacher and what makes a bad one.

There's always classes you like going to and classes you don't like going to, but have you ever thought of why? Or how bout this, one year you'll love a subject and the next year completely hate it! I've recently realized that the classes I like are usually because of the teachers, not the subjects. I find it so much easier to learn and to participate in a class with a nice teacher. I like when teachers actually get to know you and seem happy to be there. I also think its sooooo much easier to learn when you can have fun with whatever you're doing. It's nice when a teacher jokes around and makes everyone in the class feel comfortable and welcome. One of my teachers I had did a really good job with that, and it was cool to see that everyone in the class got along because of it. Even kids who normally dont talk or are just kind of shy opened up to everyone, and I really think it was just because my teacher got to know everyone and made them feel comfortable.

Another thing is that I hate when I have classes where I have to just sit and read or listen to lectures the whole time. It just goes in one ear and out the other after a while. When teachers make there lessons fun and have activities to go along with it, I always understand it so much better. Now I'm not saying everything should be fun and games, but I also don't think it should be boring and serious all the time. My english teacher last year always made plays out of the books we read. As weird as it sounds, it made me understand it so much better. He also took us outside for class once in a while just to get us out of school for a little bit. He made the class fun and enjoyable to go to. I also like when teachers make light of things we arent looking foreword to, such as homework assignments or projects. I think Mr. Anderson does a really good job with that because he uses his own voice in what he writes, and writes funny little comments or jokes in the directions that make us lighten up about it a little bit. Theres so many other things that make a class a good one, but classes with fun teachers are always the classes I enjoy going to the most.

Since a teacher can make a class good, it makes sense that a teacher can make a class bad. Some teachers from the beginning are crabby and have a bad attitude towards students, or thats what it seems like. I always wonder why, if you don't have patience or don't like kids, why you would choose teaching as your job? I mean I'm sure that's not what they intend, but with their teaching styles thats the message they send. I find it so hard to learn in a boring class or in a class where I don't feel somewhat liked by the teacher. It makes me want to participate less and makes me less willing to go in for help if i'm struggling. If I were a teacher now, I would want the students to like me, get the most out of the class, and want to come to me for help if they need it, so what would be the point of being crabby or unwelcoming towards them? Attitude is everything. I had a teacher last year who let us talk and did learning activities with us and everything, but her attitude towards the students made me hate going to the class. I think we should be able to have fun learning, and having a mean, boring teacher doesn't help.

The point of this isn't to bash on any of the teachers or anything, but I'm just saying what I think makes a good class and what makes a bad class. I think Fremd has really good teachers actually, but you always get a few that you don't like or make the class hard to go to everyday. Seeing this has helped me decide what kind of teacher I want to be and what kind of teacher I don't want to be.

With that being said, I want to hear about what you guys think! What do you think makes a good teacher? Have any stories about some of your teachers, good or bad (please try and leave out names lets not be rude)? Feel free to leave comments with any of your thoughts! :)

[Nikki Troia]

I totally agree, I hate sitting in a class where I dont like the teacher because they have a bad attitude or just lecture us for the whole period. I think teachers should make things interactive and not just have us sitting at our desks.

[Mimi LaPiana]

A good teacher makes the class. It sucks when you really are good at or like a certain subject but then you don't because of the teacher.

[Joey Marasco]

I think the reason i like history so much is because i have had so many amazing history teachers starting in 8th grade, anyone who had Mr. Rittner at Plum Grove knows what i'm talking about. Then freshman year i had Mr. Han for world history and i had Mr. Widlowski for world geo. sophomore year and finally Mr. McCusker for this. All these men are the best history teachers ever and they are the reason i'm looking into teaching history as my career

[Maia Kirch]

The way teachers teach is something extremely important. I used to be the worst, and I mean the worst math student ever because I was stuck with the same math teacher for two years. When I moved and I finally got a new teacher, math became a 1000 times easier. I cannot even explain how much I learned in almost no time because my teacher actually cared to explain the material instead of doing nothing. One simple thing can do a lot.

[Allison Dunnington]

This week I noticed that some of my friends in a certain chemistry class were incredibly angry because the teacher gave them one worksheet and expected them to learn the lesson without her help, then proceeded to give a difficult test on it. It's called teaching for a reason, and it makes me really wish that us students had some say about which teachers keep their jobs.

[Corinne Chapman]

I've always thought the same thing if you have good teachers then it makes the subject so much more likeable. Its not only more likeable but also eaiser to learn. I love the classes where i can just pay attention in class and not have to cram and study for the test becauase I know that I already understand the material.

[Sara Kowalski]

So true! no matter how much you love a subject, if the teacher is mean it can make the class miserable. School should be fun at the sam time that you learn not somewhere you hate becuase of a grumpy teacher