Teachers have the unique ability to make a student either fall in love with a subject or hate it. I used to love math, but the teachers made math more of a chore than a learning activity for me. However, my 8th grade math teacher is incredibly sweet and good at explaining, which makes me enjoy math. Do our teachers impact how much we like a class?
8th-grade students at WMS, Ogechi Madueke, Stephanie Perugini, and Eshal Satter voiced their opinions on the impact of our educators on our enjoyment of a class.
Satter says, “Last year I used to really like science but [my teacher] made me hate it but this year [my science teacher] really made me like science. I really do think a teacher impacts how you think.”
A teacher can either make you hate or love a class and it all depends on how they choose to teach. A boring teacher makes the students bored. Perugini says, “Even if I do like a subject a lot, it’s not going to be fun if the teacher is ‘and tomorrow Alexander the Great died, and today…blah blah blah’ you know it’s gotta be fun.” Teachers who talk in a monotone voice and sound unenthusiastic about what they are teaching, make me dozy and bored out. If the teacher sounds like they don’t want to teach, then why should the students act like they want to learn?
However, what makes a teacher boring? Madueke says, “…if the teacher is not interested in teaching the class or is just there for the money, it makes the class boring.” Worksheets, on top of worksheets, on top of boring classwork make a teacher boring for me.
A class must have activities that seem engaging to the students. For Perugini, she needs “..something fun and aggressive has to happen for me.” During a test, I am more likely to remember a fun activity or project we did than a boring non impactful worksheet.
For me, a teacher who just talks the entire period hands out an excessive amount of work, and gives us an unreasonable and unrealistic due date is usually the teacher I don’t like and don’t like going to their class. I need interactive projects that get me thinking positively. Learning is fun if it’s impactful. Learning shouldn’t be a chore.
Teachers do impact the experiences we have in a class and the student enlightenment in a class. “Good teachers know how to bring out the best in students.” – Charles Kuralt.
