November 17, 2008
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Good teachers
Teachers have a noble and often under rated profession. I saw this video in Apocatim’s site. I remembered some of those teachers that taught me. I had a math teacher who was very strict. She had a lot of rules which she enforced with her ruler. No one dared create any mischief in her class. No one dared talk. We believed she had eyes behind her head and invisible ears the size of an elephant. She heard every whisper. When we would do our work in class, she had a habit of quietly walking up behind you. She silently hovered just out of sight with her eagle eyes scanning your workbook. She would slowly watch how you solved a problem. If you looked at your seatmate for help, she quickly dove in and “corrected” you.
Behind her back and hundreds of feet from her, we quietly called her King Kong – a play on her surname. But I remember her disciplined approach and how some of those lessons sunk in to this day. I’ve been fortunate to have good teachers from kindergarten to university. I had a professor who didn’t mind me dropping by his office asking questions. He gave a lot of encouragement and I busted my butt in his class. I got A's in his class.
I had another teacher in Grade 8. I really respected her because she worked so hard for her students. She made us listen to the news everyday and we would have a discussion on current events. We also heard excerpts from great speeches such as Kennedy’s inaugural speech and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream”. She never made fun of us but we had fun in class.
One time, she asked the class what the difference was between an introvert and an extrovert. After a couple of students guessed incorrectly, she said “Matt is an introvert while Brian is an extrovert.” Brian was the class clown and wasn’t exactly the brightest kid. So I nervously raised my hand and answered “I understand and learn things faster?” She grinned until someone jumped in with the right answer. I looked at Brian and he looked at me. Brian was bigger than I was. But he didn’t say anything. So maybe I was right.
I certainly wasn’t an extrovert back then like that kid in the video. But I will always remember that incident whenever someone says introvert or extrovert. To Mrs. K, Miss H. and Prof P. and others who believed and inspired me - thank you.
Comments (15)
I also watched the video based on your recommendation, that was an awesome motivating talk. What a kid! He is definitely NOT an introvert, hehe. I really envy that you have good teachers! I went to school in Hong King, most of the teacher there just repeat what the book said, and stuffed us like little turkeys. So sad! It was boring trying to memorize without understanding the concept. The only teacher that impressed me was my physics teacher. He always used lab-based demonstration to illustrate a point. The other was my father, he was so patient, and taught me think in concepts to have a good foundation.
Haha~~I still keep in touch with my English literature teacher from high school! She was as strict as your 'king kong'! But I admire their patience teaching a rowdy bunch like my classmates.
I lost contact of all my teachers. I do have one that is very outstanding, she teaches me the fundamental of math. After that I always get A's from High school to Uni, most of those A's I barely study I just understand.
haha i love that smart alec answer.
hm...I remember when I was a teenager, I was once asked by a taxis driver which profession I wanted to be, I said Teacher and the driver said I was a loser, I shd have higher goal to be a lawyer, a doctor or something just like his children .......cos my parents had spent soo much time and efforts on me.....I just said without all the hard works from the teachers of his children throughout the years.... would they had become what they were????
and today I am not a teacher nor a lawyer or something.....
that's a precious memory! every teacher always leaves me with a lesson to remember. though i hate some of my teachers now, i know i'm gonna miss them once i'm done with school.
You made me go back to grade school. We had the same math teacher you did or at least they went to the same school or something. In high school it was the science teacher who was also the math teacher. Talk about dedication to students. University brought out the so called crazy teacher. Out English Lit teacher, also director of plays, taught with humor and got me to read more and more. He also taught American Literature which he summarized the first day of class with "There is no American Literature." and then proceeded to teach
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Forgot to confess to being a teacher!! Yes we do have eyes in the back of our heads
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Your last sentence is so sweet. It's interesting how our development when we are young really may impact who we are today. I wonder what Brian is up to now, lol.
We had this really large teacher in study hall and when she walked past this table of guys, they would quietly go "boom, boom, boom" with her footsteps, that was so mean and she was such a nice lady.
@stevew918 - your father sounds like a very good teacher. I'm sure he's proud of what you've done.
@curry69curry - you were rowdy? I don't believe that. I think it's great that you keep in touch with your teacher.
@vsan79 - wow... I was never a straight A student. Hats off to you!
@JonasApproved - honestly, I just blurted it out very innocently.
@agmhkg - I know I couldn't have handled being a teacher. I just don't have the aptitude for it. In the end, I don't think it matters what our jobs are. As long as we like it (well, maybe tolerate) and it pays the bills.
@Fatcat723 - Your English Lit classes must have been so much fun. I remember struggling with Chaucer, Shakespeare and Hardy. It was brutal. In addition to having eyes in the back of your heads, where did you guys learn to throw chalks and erasers so accurately?
@mmmagination - I don't know what happened to him. We went to the same high school but I think he dropped out after Gr 10 or 11.
@masecam - oh... that's so cruel.
@ElusiveWords - The teachers go to a special "SST" - secret school for teachers
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My scary teacher was my social science professor. He always wore shades in his class, looked crazy and the minute we all got to class, it was silent as death. I nearly pissed in my pants, lol.
He was like that for two quarters. But in the final quarter, he seemed to loosen up a little to a point that he actually took his glasses off and smiled. Kinda disturbing to see him smile though as it look out of place on his face-seemed to require extra effort. And we were able to see tan lines around his eyes because he he rarely took off his shades.
you are liked by your teachers?
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