Teachers Matter

I didn't really realize how huge of a difference the teacher makes until just recently.
Let's just say physics isn't my thing. I've never been interested in science at all until this trimester when I got a great physics teacher. He makes such a difference. I don't even mind going to physics and sitting through an hour lecture. He makes the class fun. He makes little jokes to keep it entertaining, shares personal experiences, and does real examples of the things we are learning about in front of us. Today, we were learning about static electricity and he pulled out one of these machines and we actually got to see what static electricity and electron transfer looks like. It's so much more interesting to actually see what you are learning about rather than just being talked at and given long formulas to memorize all class period. I had a different teacher my first trimester for physics and I didn't like the class at all. The teacher wasn't engaged and happy to be there. Good teachers are the reason why kids get interested in certain subjects. They are the reason why kids get better grades. If the class is extremely boring and not interactive at all, students won't be interested in learning. They will do their homework and just try to get through the class to get a decent grade. And that's not learning. That's just memorizing information right before a test and then forgetting it later.


The opposite experience just happened to me too. English has always been my favorite class. I really love reading and writing. Last trimester, I had a wonderful english teacher. She was so nice and happy to see us when we walked in to class everyday. She also had a sense of humor and was very in to discussion-based teaching which it made it so much more stimulating than just doing worksheets and reading a book all hour. We read at home and discussed in class. We had a great time debating about certain topics in the book and learning about each other's views. This new trimester, I got a different english teacher. He isn't a discussion-based teacher at all. We write down vocab words and turn in little one page papers everyday for completion points. There's no class talks. And it's really sad because my love for english has actually diminished from being in that class everyday. It's not interesting anymore. I don't like reading the things he gives us. They are extremely complicated and the vocab words are just dry. I can't wait for the class to be over.


So to all you teachers out there, take pride in what you do. Have fun. Keep it interesting. Make the class laugh once in a while. Make them like your class and you. You won't believe what a difference it makes.