h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My boss (yes I am a teacher) wants to survey 13-14 year olds to find out what they think makes a good teacher.

I explained that somewhere in primary school someone told these kids that a good teacher is someone who
1. Helps you learn
2. Is friendly and kind
3. Never gets angry at you.
4. Gives you fun things to do.

so giving the survey is a bit of a waste of time.

What made good or bad teachers for you during adolesence?

some of the teachers were down to earth and easy to get on with so you enjoyed those lessons but other teachers were very stand offish kinda like i'm in charge you will learn this stuff or else definately not fun .
i suppose it was the teachers which were upbeat and enjoyed what they were teaching passed this onto the pupils they were teaching rather than the ones who were this is only a job at the end of the day i think these vibes can be picked up by young ppl!!



dd

The good teachers were those who:

Were able to control the class

Were able to stop me from getting utterly, utterly bored

Didn't give unnecessary homework

Had a sense of humour

Knew more about the subject than I did

I had some very good teachers in my high school experience, and very few not-so-good ones. A good high school teacher(in my opinion)will:

genuinely care about the academic welfare of their students...

challenge their students without pushing them over the edge...

recognize that each student is an individual with unique talents and capabilities, and help them to pursue that which they are really suited for...

recognize that they have influence on their students whether they like them or not just by virtue of the fact that they see them on a daily basis, therefore making them a constant in that young persons life (and in some cases they may be the only constant)...

really loves the subject they teach, and can show the skeptical teenagers that while (insert subject here) may not "technically" be applied in their daily lives as adults, it is their ability to think that they will take away from said subject even if they don't like it.

I think a good teacher is one that encourages you whether you are doing well or not.

My favourite teacher at school was my art teacher. He was known as "Uncle Terry" and was just like Tony Hart (only not so camp). We used to go and have a crafty ciggy with him at lunch time! Not that I am saying that is good criteria for a teacher of course!!!

The best teacher I ever had made us all feel important, even though we were the bottom of 4 classes of maths, and there were only 12 of us in the class. She really made us feel that we could do the work she set, and made us feel our ability, and made us feel clever. It would have been too easy to let these 12 thickies fester at the bottom. she even arranged for us all to take an extra Maths test - maths appreciation or something, so that if any of us failed the o'level, we would have some sort of qualification to make us feel better. I think we all scrapped though the o'level anyway, but it was a nice thought.

A good teacher is consistent and predictable, so that kids know what the boundaries are and that they apply to everyone all the time.

Otto

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it.
No one has really mentioned any shockers... Is that because forgetting is the best policy?
Any other good teacher stories?

*watches with interest *Taking this all on board on course to becoming secondary/high/post 16 teacher in sciences/biology 1. consistant and fair, whilst taking control of classroom management.
2. entheusiastic for the subject, and able to pass this on.
3. knowledgible in subject area[s].
4. Able to adapt to meet needs of pupils based on their differences/simularities and ability etc.
5. Able to take a real interest in the accademic, social, spiritual and morral development of children in their care.

6. able tomake the most boaring (to the children) subject interesting through the use of multiple teaching stratogies, drawing cross curricular connections between subject specific matterial, and developing a childs understanding on where the subject specific matterial and techneques fit in to both the broader context of the planned curriculum, the school, and the children's life.
7. Able to spel.
8. There to help the pupils, not to further themselves.
9. Able to produce a relaxed, and comfetable environment in the classroom in which learning can occur, and through this develop understanding of pupils as individuals experiancing education.
10. Have long brown hair in a pony tail I could go on for ages, but I'm ment to be writting an essay about a subject not to disimular to this lesson plan time later Enzymes Now there's a ideal oppertunity to develop understanding of the cross-connectivity of all biochemical processes and their relivence to other regions of the course hmm, could be something fun/ involving the pupils eating chocalate : Obviously to demonstrate saliva amylase and stuff but great chance to keep 'em quiet "chew this" : scilence

bad things have probably been shoved to the back of our minds


dd

Bad things... they used to try* and give me detention quite a bit and, the head of house didn't have a sense of humour: everyone else thought it was funny putting the set of lockers against the classroom door so Mr G's class couldn't get out of the room or maybe i got the rong end of the stick : in college the other day, on the PGCE, discussing just this; some people had a hard time, violence against them from teachers etc., but all i can say is we never had any really nasty violence from teachers, though one did used to hit me with the ruler ocassionally, but only when I was day dreaming out of the window, it worked, and used to grab my attention oh, and she also used to throw chalk at the table in front of me, to startle me; but I really liked her as a teacher : It is weird now, as I've bumped into several of my old high school teachers down teh pub when I was back home, nice to meet them after well, about ten years, and talk to them like that, and buy them a beer as well, obviously talking of which bye ahhhhh

As I teacher of 11-16 year olds I posed a similar question a while back.You may like to peruse the conversation at http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/F19585?thread=94202&post=777830#p777830 Incog.

My favorite teachers throughout middle school and high school all knew their subject area backwards and forwards, were passionate about both their subject AND teaching, and knew how to relate to students at their level without talking down to them.

The worst ones I had were either too buddy-buddy, didn't understand teenagers thought they were adults and should be spoken to that way, or simply didn't like their subject area.

subject area.
entheusiam for subject area.
ditto for education/teaching.
relaxed.
in control.
helpful.
availible.
there.
accademically able to explain what they are talkingabout, to lower, and higher attainment groups q