Compare/Contrast Paper Final

Formal Paper #2

Two Educators

Jarrett Johnson

English 101

11/14/2013

Listening to lectures, writing notes, taking tests, completing homework, all while keeping oneself interested sounds like tasking work. Repetition and comprehension while staying focused is what students need to keep in mind when learning a new subject. Being a student doesn’t sound like easy work but in reality, teaching a classroom full of unique minds is not as easy as it may seem. Teachers have it tough. Their job is to teach a group of individuals all the same material in a short amount of time. If everyone’s minds were alike and worked the same way, teaching would be significantly less work. The problem is that people minds very rarely think alike so people comprehend material in different ways. Teachers must learn to communicate on the same level with each of their students while teaching the same lesson all within a short amount of time. I have had teachers do exactly that and I would excel in their class. I have also had teachers that didn’t understand that my mind did not work like theirs. Those classes were a struggle and I had to really work myself to get to the end. There are two teachers that come to mind when I think about my best and worst classroom experiences. Mr. S made me passionate about class and want to learn more while Ms. L drove me away from math and caused me to struggle for a semester.

Mr. S was one of the best teachers I have ever had. His knowledge was unbelievable and his peculiar way of teaching was funny and enticing. His passion and interest of the subject was profound. He was an incredibly nice guy and easy to get along with no matter whom you were. If someone was having trouble or needed an answer to a simple question, he would take the time out of his day to make sure he could answer it and help the student. His way of teaching was what made students want to learn. Throughout his lectures he would crack jokes and start talking in different accents and voices portraying different characters very dramatically. Although it was very strange indeed, it kept students attention and kept the classroom alive. I myself thought he was hilarious in a "dad-joke" kind of way. His constant demonstrations and class involvement kept students awake and focused. His passion behind each subject and demonstrations made them unbelievably fun to watch. If a subject became dull or was too long and boring, he would take a break to teach us the weird word of the week and its meaning. For example "Buzkashi" was one of the words he taught us. It was a game that was created in the Middle East similar to Polo. He would say out loud as if he was imitating the students thoughts "But why should we care Mr. Sampson and what is even weird about that?" He would then follow it up by saying "Well I guess nothing is weird about it, if you think playing with a headless goat instead of a ball is normal!" All of the kids eyes would lighten up and both in disgust and interest. He would smirk because he knew he had our attention now. Even though the explanation started out boring, we always knew it would take a new turn for the weird from there on out. He simply knew how to keep the kids attention even when their minds began wandering. He was attentive and cared that his students cared too; completely unlike my math teacher I had the following year.

Ms. L was pretty much the opposite sadly. She was a very nice lady and I truly believe she wanted to see her students learn, but she went about it in all of the wrong ways. She obviously had great knowledge on the subjects she taught but her way of communicating and helping students (who might not be naturally good at understanding the material) was absolutely terrible. I was one of those students. I have a problem-solving way of thinking but math in general does not come very easy to me. She simply did not understand that. I got to the point of having her tutor me for a half hour once a week after school. If I didn't understand how to solve a problem, she would repeat the same thing I didn't understand but only slower and in steps. She could not figure out why I didn't comprehend the material like someone with a math brain would, and she had little to no alternative explanations. She was very shallow and by-the-book, so in her mind there was not any other correct way of explaining the situation. I would eventually understand the material by doing the same thing she was teaching me over and over again, but if she were able to explain in a way my non-mathematical brain could register in the first place, I would have learned sooner and understood the material to a further extent. I began teaching myself how to solve problems in my own way and was able to keep up with the work. Eventually she called me out and told me to explain how I solved certain problems. I explained to her my process. After my explanation, Ms. L responds by saying "I'm not sure why you are doing that way and I cannot give you credit Jarrett. This is not the correct way to find the answer." This baffled me. I did not understand how I was solving the problems the wrong way if I was getting the right answers. She didn't have an answer other than her saying "That is not how I taught the class." There were many times when I would ask Ms. L for help while in class and she would say to me "Have you asked the classmates around you? I'm sure they can help you." She would then turn around and proceed with what she was doing before I asked and ignore the fact that I was standing there.  These were just a few of the things that made me think of her as a lousy teacher. 

            Teaching is not something everyone can do. Sadly, almost anyone can become a teacher. I truly think that teaching is a natural ability that can fully develop through trial and error. When a student doesn't understand something that the teacher has explained over and over, it's probably because the student mind doesn't quite work efficiently that way.  If a teacher can catch that, maybe he or she should try a new approach. Ms. L didn’t get that my brain didn’t work like hers Everybody's mind works differently. The ways we think, act, and learn are all unique for the most part. If all teachers could be similar to Mr. S and open their minds to the possibility that students have different rates of progress, classrooms would be a place of interest and students would begin to excel. Not everyone is a perfect student and sometimes teachers need to accept that there is not much they can do for those particular individuals if they are not willing to learn. Even though there might be some tough students to crack every once in a while, teachers should always have that drive to inspire their pupils and send them forward with the knowledge to continue their scholastic journey.