I was just over at the myspace professor rating page. I'm sorry, but I thought it was depressing. Maybe I'm a nerd, but in my opinion, "Easy A, no real work or assignments, just show up to class occasionally and you get an A, etc." does not make "the best teacher I've ever had!" And, of course, the teachers who actually teach get rated really low.
One of my all time favorite, worship the ground he walks on professors was on there, rated real low for "too much work, too hard to get a passing grade." Yeah, it is usually tough to pass if you don't go to class. I had this teacher for at least 7 to 10 classes in college. I took classes just because he was teaching them. He assigned ass loads of work... none of which was to be done outside of class. No tests. And you gotta love a teacher who uses props. The man was insanely difficult as a teacher... if you didn't try in the class. If you tried, not only was it a breeze but it was a blast! His journalism students, me included, followed him around campus like excited puppies.
But you know what? Two weird things happened in his classes, and these two things happen in the classes of teachers like this.
1. We all left with a wealth of knowledge. If you showed up for just half his classes, you learned something. However, most students in his classes never missed a class. We didn't want to. His classes were usually more fun than anything else going on.
2. The students in those classes became family. We all ran into each other in other classes. We helped each other. We rooted for each other. Heck, we hung out together, co-hosted radio shows with each other, walked all over campus together, and learned stuff from each other. From those classes came people like Mike and Darren, two guys who I believe, if given half a chance, would blow the journalism field apart and make it a whole new beast. They were both a wealth of not only talent but useful information. And they had a passion you don't see often. It was in this teacher's class that they rubbed off on everyone else. If it had been an "easy A" teacher who gave you an A from showing up to class once, they never would have had a chance.
This dude actually held a class one semester called "Murder in Literature." Yes, there was a lot of reading and a lot of work, like usual. But no other teacher has the balls to cover a student in fake blood, lay him in the lobby of a busy building, cover the area in crime scene tape, and convince a few cops on campus to come in uniform and do a mock investigation. This lead to a mock trial.
The classes I remember the most, and the information I retained the best, came from this man's classes.
And I didn't get A's. I didn't fail, but I didn't get A's. But he was the most encouraging professor I ever had. I wouldn't still be writing today if it wasn't for that man.
That is what you go to college for. Not for an easy A. How do you survive a job and the real world after getting easy A's through school? How do explain to your boss how, exactly, you got straight A's in 5 computer classes but you don't know how to turn the computer on? How do you justify to yourself the amount of money you and/or your parents spent (and the loans you are paying off) when you graduate college knowing nothing? The occasional easy A class is fine. But not an entire college career full of them.
Maybe that is why I avoided those "famous" teachers like the plague.Dedicated to Dr. Bruce Chadwick of NJCU in New Jersey. May you all find a teacher like him someday.
To teachers like Dr. Chadwick, who don't hand out grades, we salute you!
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Good point!
If you get by using deceptive moves you will be setting yourself up for a fall. Even taking one class to get an easy a is foolish. Your goals are not based on just Tuesdays and
Wensdays and you shouldn't treat any class as if it will be easy. Learn all you can now while the cost is relatively low. When you get in the business world you might make a decision that cost you and your company a lot of money because you slept in that day of class! -
I couldn't agree with you more. Being a teacher is one of the most important professions there is. A teacher should be tough, how else will anyone learn. I'm glad he encouraged you to keep writing.
Kat -
If teachers don't expect the best from their students, they certainly won't get it. And you won't give it either. Some respect on both sides, leads to a much better realtionship, and more learning too. Good write.
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this was better than a lot of other stuff i have read on here. lots of passion. you convinced me! he must be a great teacher. interesting. different. i didnt like school..but i would have liked it even less had it been come to class and pass. i might have bailed and failed. yes, ive had training. anyways. good job. enjoyed.
Blu -
A wonderful article and a great tribute to all those teachers out there who not only care for their students, but want them to succeed in life. It's people like them who have made me persue my passions to be a teacher as well.
Great job!
Kate
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yup, i completely agree with you on this. i once had a science teacher who was completely a rebel against classical teaching methods. he insisted on not letting us use a textbook- he wanted us to make the connections in science ourselves, not by finding the connections because the textbook told us so. This, of course, was a lot harder, having to find it yourself rather than having it told to you, but in the end, when we did find it, our satisfaction was a lot greater and we had that little piece of knowledge forever imbedded in our minds. Although I never really liked him that much, I felt that he was a really great teacher. A little queer, yes, but still, a really good teacher that deserved praise.
Kudos to you for writing this essay. -
I am not a teacher nor am I in college but I do understand about easy teachers and students who don't even try. Easy teachers annoy me to no end, I went through the whole of my freshmen year without learning anything from my English teacher except how to stay quiet and that you only need to read three books per semester. Needless to say I was glad to go on to sophomore year. My class mates who don't try to do work even if its a five problem worksheet that takes five minutes to do because it's still 'homework' and 'homework sucks ass because it's stupid and dumb' and maybe if they did homework they'd know that stupid and dumb mean basically the same thing. Sorry I had a little rant of my own, your 'diary entry' was very interesting to read, I hope when I go to college I have teachers that are just as interesting as your own Dr. Chadwick.
-Audge
Edited on Oct 15, 8:26 p.m. because 'spelling error'.
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