Karen Reeves
What makes a good teacher? Is it in the way that
they grade? How often they smile at you? Or is it in the little things, or
should I say, the often-overlooked things… the way in which they present
information so that the class is interesting and informative. A good teacher is
one who pays attention to the students who need a little extra help, and
disciplines the ones who are disruptive. Teachers who care about their
students, and desire for them to succeed, which also teaching them to think for
themselves. A good teacher is one who is passionate about their role as an
educator, takes an interest in their student’s lives, and is excited to teach
students new information.
In the film “Stand and Deliver” the main
character Jamie Escalante is tough on his students, “… there will be no free
rides, no excuses. You already have two strikes against you: your name and your
complexion.”(3) He expresses that life is not always fair, and that in order to
move ahead in this world you may have to try a little harder then previously
planned. He’s tough, without being overbearing. My second grade teacher Mrs.
Garman was tough; though she wasn’t tough with love… she told us on an almost
daily basis how dumb we were, and that we would probably never succeed because
we went outside to play for recess instead of stay in and study. In an educator
there must be a balance, like with Mr. Escalante, he taught his students
without being overbearing. He helped them out, made sure they were aware of the
class expectations, he helped them to realize their potential but never once
dampened their spirits or made them feel as if teaching were a waste of time.
He said to one of him students, “Tough guys don’t do math. Tough guys fry
chicken for a living.”(3)
A good educator must give their students the
freedom to think and express themselves. That doesn’t mean that they stray far
from the curriculum and to never teach any of the course material, it just
means that they must teach their students that it is okay for them to be
themselves. Thinking for yourself is an important lesson that is hard to learn,
but once you’ve got it down is priceless. The character John Keating in the
movie “Dead’s Poets Society” states “No matter what anybody tells you, words
and ideas can change the world.”(2) I once had a teacher who, like John Keating
in the Dead Poets Society was good at teaching his students about
self-expression while still educating them on course material. Everyday we
would have an opportunity to dance, the teacher would play music for the first
20 minutes of class and we would just dance around and be ourselves. He was one
of the reasons why second grade was so much fun, I still learned how to read,
write, count, and play a musical instrument, but he taught us how to be free
and express ourselves. Mr. Danubio is an example of a teacher who taught you
the “important” things, but he taught us how to be ourselves as well. The
teacher mentioned above Mrs. Garman was definitely not like that, not at all,
we were never allowed to express ourselves and never once was anything
mentioned about following our dreams. Keating says, “But only in their dreams
can men be truly free. Twas always thus, and always thus will be.”(2) He’s got
the right idea.
A good teacher must be inspiring and needs to
show how much they love the material they’re teaching about. It makes it a lot
easier to learn if the teacher is excited about the subject. Teachers must also
learn to care about their students, some people aren’t the easiest to love, but
I think that a teacher should out of anyone be able to recognize the
differences between people and to embrace them. A quote by Bertrand Russell
states, “No man can be a good teacher unless he has feelings of warm affection
towards his pupils and a genuine desire to impart to them what he believes to
be of value.”(1) That emphasizes just
how important it is for a teacher to show excitement and passion for what they
are teaching. Teachers must also be inspiring, they have to be able to take
something that may or may not be interesting to everyone and adapt it so that
their students are able to learn. “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher
explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires,”(1)
says William Arthur Ward. It’s amazing the differences between teachers when it
comes to being excited about the material. I’ve had teachers who go into
teaching BECAUSE they are so excited about a subject that they want to teach
people about it. Then again I’ve had teachers who go into teaching because they
thought it would be an easy profession. What kind of teacher would you rather
have? I’d go with the first.
I
end with where I began at the beginning of this piece. A good teacher is one
who is passionate about their role as an educator, takes an interest in their
student’s lives, and is excited to teach students new information. It’s true.
If I were a teacher I would try my best to be all of these things for them.
There’s no real teachers manual (that I know of) there’s no set way in which
you should teach people or interact with them. But I believe that in order to
be an effective teacher, one that students listen to, learn from, and respect
you must have all of the qualities listed above. I’ve had many inspiring
teachers, who made the class interesting, I’ve had many teachers who are bored
and don’t seem to like the students at all. If I were a teacher I would want to
make an honest effort to love and care for my students, to show them that
sometimes life doesn’t have to be taken so seriously… a little respect goes a
long way.
Work
Cited
2.
Dead
Poets Society. Dir. Peter Weir. Perf. Robin Williams, Ethan Hawke. Touchstone
Pictures, 1989. DVD
3. Stand and Deliver. Dir. Ramon Menendez. Perf.
Edward James Olmos, Estelle Harris. American Playhouse, 1988. DVD.
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