Rough Draft

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 a single type of teacher that is good. Two of my best teachers, Ms. Merifield and Ms. Goodell, had very different ways of teaching. While Ms. Goodell was always a pleasure to be around, 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. 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. 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. 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.