a great teacher

A Great Teacher Teachers provide foundation of each individual’s education. In addition to teachers in school, other people act as teachers also, for example, someone teaching another how to draw, write, read, or even how to ride a bike. The act of teaching is a simple process that just happens from trying to explain one’s knowledge to another. A teacher needs patience, knowledge, a certain discipline, bits of sociology, and a certain personality to captivate the students. Most importantly, teachers should remember that their students are individuals with their own personalities, likes, dislikes, and their own views .The first thing I believe is the most important is to remember the students are kids and persons too. They may disagree with you or not understand the principles taught. Patience is a virtue; a rash attitude will confuse and trouble the students. Patience gives the student a sense of caring and a feeling of attention. Kids need to feel special, for they are at the center of their own world. They don’t have the experience needed to understand that their view is not unique. I began teaching a small group of kids how to play chess in my old high school. I found I needed to find a proper balance to teach the kids how to reason, like I did so many years before. Mrs. Hattie’s way was a patient and constructive one she would go over and “she pounded the fundamentals of journalism into her students-not simply how to write a lead or accurately transcribe a quote, but, more important, how to comport yourself in a professional way and to always do quality work.”(Friedman, 104) She knew that to be respected and even read in the world of journalism presentation had to be impeccable. Knowledge can come from two sources, learning, and experience. A teacher that has never practiced in the field he is teaching will be limited. Experience and stories give a sense of realism and rear-world applications to students. My old Biology teacher, Mr. Saintin, used to work as a geological engineer. Those stories gave me a better view of how the different tectonic plate worked than a chart. Experience gives passion; someone like Mr. K put his feelings and passion into the music he was teaching, “Mr.K understood better than anyone the bond music creates among people who play it together.”(Lipman, 409) Classes need a sense of discipline, not so as to restrain the student’s creativity, point of views, ideas, or thinking process; but as a way to push them into the subject and work they are doing in class. Every student has had a day or more when they did not want to work, either from being tired, lazy or just plain not finding the subject interesting, but a certain push is necessary to understand and get the subject. Mr. K’s classroom was a strict one, “Mr.K pushed us harder than our parents, harder than our other teachers, and through sheer force of will made us better than we had any right to be.”(Lipman, 408) For without guidance there can only be little progress. The students need to be pushed and challenged without creating friction between students and teacher.
. The need to know your students is a harder one to work on, especially once classes start to become bigger. Students will feel smaller and less important in the teacher’s eyes if their teacher doesn’t take the time to know a little about them. Mrs. Hattie’s student cared about her opinion and view, “None of us could have articulated it then, but it was because we enjoyed being harangued by her, disciplined by her, and taught by her.”(Friedman, 104) Her students loved her, because she knew them as friends more than students. A teacher that knows the basic thinking of their students will be able to develop a program that will successfully teach the subject in the best way for each individual. Everybody works and learn in a differently way. I once had to be put on detention to finish a group project because my teacher understood I had neither the motivation nor the structure and push to do it. If a student feels ignored in class, he will ask fewer questions, and if he does not understand, will fall behind. Why are students in class, because their parents force them, because of the law, to learn or just to socialize, again there is no one that never had a boring class, we all had that plain boring teacher that would just read out of the book and does not challenge the students. A clear personality is required of a teacher. A teacher has to be able to captivate the students and share some of their passions in their respective subject. What student would want to learn something the teacher is not even motivated to teach? I once had an English teacher back in France that was disrespected by her students and apathetic, the class was in total chaos, with everybody fighting with paper balls in the class. I can still remember the day when two of my friends had the audacity to make a soccer ball size tape ball that just flew around the class. And what happened, nothing, because our teacher had no control and no respect from the class. She was considered as a push-over and the class stayed chaotic the entire year. A teacher’ personality gives interest to his students and doesn’t let them stray off-path. Mr. K’s class was like that, how his crazy insult, half understood with his accent gave him something unique, no other teacher would yell at them in Ukrainian. For if the students see the teacher just as a book-reader they will not listen. A great teacher needs to learn about and care for his students. Teachers need to use their experience to make the class worthwhile to his students. Motivating a class can be hard to do but learning each student’s character helps develop an environment where it is explained how each of them gains from learning. Teaching is hard but with motivation, experience, and an ability to captivate, great teachers can be made.

Works Cited Lipman, Joanne. "And The Orchestra Played On." Models for Writers: Short Essays for Composition. 11th ed. Bedford Freeman & Worth Pub., 2012. Friedman, Thomas L. "My Favorite Teacher." Models for Writers: Short Essays for Composition. 11th ed. Bedford Freeman & Worth Pub., 2012.

Cited: Lipman, Joanne. "And The Orchestra Played On." Models for Writers: Short Essays for Composition. 11th ed. Bedford Freeman & Worth Pub., 2012. Friedman, Thomas L. "My Favorite Teacher." Models for Writers: Short Essays for Composition. 11th ed. Bedford Freeman & Worth Pub., 2012.