My highschool AP-Cal teacher was probably my best math teacher...although I hate to admit it now. She was also the most anal, and had an annoying voice, and let her religious ideas be known in her class, but my, did she gear us up for the AP test. All of our work that we turned in had to be just so, with ALL of the steps clearly shown, with our notebook with the exact right sections with exactly the right things in each section, etc. But she pushed us to do as well as she knew that all of us could. In a nutshell, here are the characteristics that made her rock as a teacher (although not necessarily as a person) :
-VERY organized
-energetic and passionate
-positive attitude towards learning
-challenging and demanding
-thorough in explanations
-focused (didn't ever got off-topic)
-rigorous course work (those take-home tests just about killed all of us)
Although I definitely admire and use some of these characteristics in my own teaching (or attempt to) I would never, and could never, be exactly like her. I am not as detached from my students as she was, and I don't want to be. I don't want to be "friends" with my students, but I do want them to see me as a person who cares. I have definitely stolen some of her ideas, including her notebook quizzes that forced us, and now my students, to keep an organized and up-to-date notebook.
And now for some reason...I can't remember her name. It's driving me crazy!
Saturday, August 27, 2005
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1 comment:
Great reflection-- I would love to se Ms. ?'s notebook scheme! - Ms. Cornelius
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