Has anyone seen this movie? It is hysterical.
I have had teachers that I thought were "bad" when I was in high school. Teachers that gave difficult tests covering material that I swear we never learned or a grading system that I thought was too harsh, or nuns that would embarrass you if your shirt wasn't tucked in just right. But my main goal was to get good grades and not let anything sway my focus. So I worked harder, found study buddies, and made sure my uniform was always in place. Usually when I thought I had a "bad teacher," I ended up doing better in the class because I worked harder and pushed myself.
Colorado State Senator Mike Johnston says that teachers are the "single most important variable determining the success of any student" (113). Teachers are only ONE important variable in the education equation. We all take our job very seriously. We revise lesson plans to meet the students' needs, we participate in professional development, we collaborate with co-workers, and we take grad classes....all to make us more effective teachers. But where do the students factor into all of this? They are yet another important factor in the equation. We can take our jobs seriously and revise and collaborate and learn all we want, but if a student is not invested in his/her education, then our job becomes ten times more difficult.
I think students label teachers as "bad" when they don't do well on a test or aren't given a certain break that they are looking for with an assignment. The students don't consider the amount of time or effort that THEY put in to studying or working on an assignment. I think for the most part students need to accept constructive criticism as a positive thing and not expect to always be praised for work that may be mediocre or done at the last minute.
I get the impression from my 11th graders that a "Bad Teacher" is someone who makes them work too hard, doesn't let them "chill" in class, and is overly professional rather than "a friend."
ReplyDeleteI'll take the title of “Bad Teacher” any day if it means my students take me for a person who is serious about my job, serious about the work I expect them to do, and serious about working bell to bell, every day of the year. It is not a popularity contest, I'm not there to make friends.
With the end of August comes freshman orientation seminars for colleges across the country. I remember my freshman seminar at Syracuse University, and feeling completely overwhelmed when told that to succeed in college, you have to study two hours a week for each credit. Right from the start I was told how I factored into the equation of academic success. It is not the sole responsibility of the professor or the teacher. Students have a stake in this too. We need to make our students aware of what they owe in all of this... and by upholding that expectation, we can take pride in being “Bad Teachers.”