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Good Teachers

July 19th, 2011 by

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I’m not a teacher yet, but I’ve had a lot of teachers in the past. Before starting the MAT@USC in September, I wanted to look back and take a minute to think about what made my favorite teachers so good.

A few traits are shared by most of my best teachers: they were kind, they seemed to be having fun, they treated us with respect, and they cared about what they taught. Though they all shared many traits, different aspects of their personalities and their teaching strategies stood out.

My Glowing Apple. August 21, 2009 By: Gregory Faggion, Flickr

  • Mr. Warren, my 11th grade World History teacher, stands out as being exceptionally kind. He was a quiet, dry man who rarely spoke to us about anything other than history, but he came across as genuinely caring and helpful. He also gave us 100-question Scantron tests that were pretty brutal. Nevertheless, we (almost) all liked him and treated him with respect because we knew he liked us and cared about us as students and people.
  • Coach Arnold, both my Economics and my Psychology teacher, was having fun 99% of the time he was in the classroom. I still remember him playing “Don’t Fear the Reaper” as we took Econ quizzes, or giving a lesson on supply and demand using a foam finger with, I think, Auburn University’s logo on it. Coach Arnold’s classes worked because they were a breath of fresh air. We gave him our attention because we knew he’d earned it.
  • Mr. Gibbs, probably my favorite teacher, was great because he treated us like adults. He didn’t take any guff and he expected us to keep up, but he also spoke to us in a way that lots of other teachers didn’t –he had opinions about things and he let us know about them. I think we responded to his honesty and his passion and, because of that, learned a lot of U.S. History.
  • Mrs. Edwards succeeded as a teacher for lots of reasons, but mainly I think it was because she really cared about, and was an expert in, her subject –French. Honestly, I just took French because she was pretty, seemed nice, and was the football coach’s wife. Turns out, she was a great teacher, too, and she really knew her stuff. Her classes had a collaborative air about them that allowed us to use her as a resource when needed, but to venture out on our own, too.

    • All of these teachers were good because of how they taught, not what they taught. I certainly enjoyed History classes more than Algebra classes, but I still thought I had some great Algebra teachers. That’s another thing great teachers share: they can make you learn about something you don’t necessarily like.

    I hope I’m able to live up to the example all of my wonderful teachers set for me. With their lessons, my own ideas, and the guidance and development I’ll gain from USC’s MAT program, I think I’ll have the best foundation possible and be well on my way to being a great teacher.

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