It is
difficult to judge how good a teacher is. A young student is probably
going to have a different description of a good teacher then a parent
or a student reflecting on their education. For example a student
with a strict teacher who gives lots of homework is not going to like
the teacher and, probably, say their teacher is bad. While the
results of this teaching method may show great progress, so the
parents will, most likely, appreciate the teacher's way of teaching.
Circumstances can change how a teacher is viewed, as well. There is
not one specific type of teacher that is good. Two of my best
teachers, Ms. Merifield and Ms. Goodell, had very different ways of
teaching. Ms. Goodell was always a pleasure to be around and knew her
students well, she even introduced me to my best friend and we are
still friends today. Ms. Merifield was strict and expected a lot of
her students. I used to dread going to Ms. Merifield's classes and
long for the time in them to end. With her constant shushing of the
class and strict bathroom policies, the class seemed to dragged on.
Two teachers can have different teaching styles and both can be
considered good or bad teachers.
One
of my favorite teachers growing up was Ms. Goodell, my fourth grade
teacher. She had a reward system involving stickers, in which after a
student got ten stickers they got to choose a prize from a prize box.
Prizes included little toy cars, pencils, toys from kids meals from
fast food restaurants, and key chains. We got stickers for things
like getting high scores on spelling tests and participating in
class. It was a very affective system that kept the class, of
children between the ages of nine and ten, under control. Also while
teaching the multiplication table, she gives any student that
completes the sheets of multiplication problems up to twelve a
king-sized candy bar. When I began eighth grade my English teacher,
Ms. Merifield, had a very different way of keeping control of her
class. In her class everyone was given a self-evaluation. This
evaluation was a factored into your grade and not filling it out
could lower your grade. After seven days, in a row, of getting A's on
the evaluation you no longer had to fill it out, she would do it for
you, She also gave you a “card” that would get you a treat once a
month. The treats ranged from ice cream during warm months, during
the winter hot chocolate, and sometimes just candy bars or chips. If
you ever got a grade below seventy percent you would get it back and
have to start all over again. I once left my hat under the desk and
had to redo the week to get rid of the evaluation. Although the “card
parties,” as the class referred to the treats, were greatly
anticipated, the best part of not having an evaluation was not having
to wait after class to put it in the basket and not having to fill it
out. While stickers would not be effective for students that are
thirteen and fourteen, a self-evaluation would be too difficult for
fourth graders to fill out. Neither system can be used for all
classes. These two teachers smartly used the best reward system for
the age group they were teaching.
Both
teachers made class interactive. In Ms. Goodell's class we would do
exercises in our math books as a class and would randomly be called
on to answer questions. In Ms. Merifield's class we would go around
the class to correct sentences, in the homework, by adding
punctuation, capital letters, spelling changes, or anything else that
was needed for the sentence to be written correctly. We would also go
over the vocabulary homework in class. Because we went over homework
in class we were expected to have at least eighty percent on each
assignment and anything less resulted in lunch detention until it was
raised. In this aspect of teaching these two teachers are relatively
similar, though as expected the fourth grade teacher was a lot less
demanding. She would expect students to be getting the right answers
after going over it in class, but wasn't taking away our time. An
interactive class keeps students paying attention, although going
from person to person may make students slack of until it's their
turn it also assures each student must answer. Also, Ms. Merifield's
students would pay attention for the purpose of not having to get
detention. On the other hand, randomly calling on students makes it
more likely for each student to do the problem. Both ways of
selecting students keep students actively participating in class.
These
two teachers regularly followed lesson plans and were able to adapt
if needed. Ms. Merifield had the homework for the week written on a
whiteboard at the side of the room, along with what would be done in
class. Ms. Goodell would have students write in planners the homework
for the night and would usually tell the class ahead of time if
something different from the normal routine was happening, like a
trip to the school library or a gym day. Another indicator that each
teacher had thorough lesson plans is that whenever we had a
substitute teacher they would know what was happening. In Ms.
Merifield's class students would try to distract her from the topic
at hand. Although it worked sometimes, the next day was always
incredible difficult to catch up to the schedule. Ms. Goodell and Ms.
Merifield were excellent planners and stuck to lesson plans as much
as possible.
Scheduled
into both teachers agenda was reading. Both had different approaches
on grading the amount a student read. In Ms. Goodell's class parents
would tell Ms. Goodell their student read by signing their planner.
Later, if the book was in the schools system, we would be tested on
our comprehension of the book. Ms. Merifield had her class write book
notes for a each chapter and later write a book report using the
notes, turning both in to be graded. Although a tedious task most
students no longer practice, it was helpful in learning, not only how
to write a report, but also note taking skills. After the book report
was written and turned in we weren't required to take notes on the
book, only read and have a book for silent reading in class. In both
classes most students read the required amount and excelled at
reading.
Obviously
the age of students comes into play a lot in these two teachers way
of teaching. A fourth grader can't be expected to write detailed
notes on a book and an eighth grader is more likely to lie to get
there parent to sign something they didn't do. However one of the
things good teachers need to understand is the best way to teach the
age group they will be teaching. One teaching method can not be the
mold for all classes. These methods may have worked because of the
students being taught. The school I went to was small and there were
very few disruptive kids. Detention wasn't something you wanted to
get, so we paid attention in class. In different circumstances the
way of teaching these two teachers used could be considered bad.
Obviously if they switched positions, but possibly if they went to
the school in the next town that was twice as big and far more
diverse. There is not one good way of teaching that is good, a good
method can considered bad depending on the students being taught.
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