If HATE is an impression, then my 9th grade algebra teacher left an impression on me. I passed all 6 report card periods, but he was just an arrogant bleep bleep bleep. Once I didn't have the correct answer to some obscure formula. He made me stand in the back of the room for ten minutes. Then he asked me again. Still no answer. I told him maybe I should stand a little longer and it might come to me. Yes, that answer surprised me, too! He just said pay attention...he had nothing stupid-but-witty to say!
Ever have a teacher leave a great impression on you?
- Thread starter oldbrownhat
- Start date
I attended grades 7-11 in the little town of Tullahoma in middle TN. Tullahoma had a strange mix of farmers, moon shiners and aerospace engineers. Arnold Engineering & Development Center was home to hypersonic wind tunnels and lots of other top secret programs. The teaching staff at THS was just as diverse. The principal and his assistant were hard core disciplinarians with paddle in hand, ready to strike if you acted out. Most of the math, history and Latin teachers (yes, Latin was taught) were experts in their fields. If I had to pick just one it would be math teacher, Mr. Curlee. He looked like Lurch on the Adam's Family but he knew his stuff and he knew how to teach it.
Nothing in high school or collage did anything to prepare me for a life long vocation as a flight instructor in 4 different helicopters and 4 fixed wing aircraft. Being a successful instructor comes from being able to understand individual personalities, and get inside there heads by listening to them. Only then will the student be open to what is going on. And yes, you must be THE subject matter expert. If you're not, they will see through you in a heart beat. If you don't have the answer to a question, find it, and don't BS your way through. There is no quicker way to turn a student off. They can tell.
Nothing in high school or collage did anything to prepare me for a life long vocation as a flight instructor in 4 different helicopters and 4 fixed wing aircraft. Being a successful instructor comes from being able to understand individual personalities, and get inside there heads by listening to them. Only then will the student be open to what is going on. And yes, you must be THE subject matter expert. If you're not, they will see through you in a heart beat. If you don't have the answer to a question, find it, and don't BS your way through. There is no quicker way to turn a student off. They can tell.
I have another one. I had to take history in Summer school because I didn't like it enough to do well during the school year.
The teacher was a female whose name is forgotten by me. One day we were discussing the Civil War, and during a break another student and friend, went home and came back with a Civil War rifle from his family.
The teacher saw it and was not alarmed at all, until my friend opened a window, stuck the barrel out of the window, and pulled the trigger. The gun fired
. The teacher was nonplussed about what happened, but told my friend to put the gun up for the rest of the class.
The teacher was a female whose name is forgotten by me. One day we were discussing the Civil War, and during a break another student and friend, went home and came back with a Civil War rifle from his family.
The teacher saw it and was not alarmed at all, until my friend opened a window, stuck the barrel out of the window, and pulled the trigger. The gun fired
. The teacher was nonplussed about what happened, but told my friend to put the gun up for the rest of the class.British Literature teacher my junior year of high school. Course probably should have been titled: How to Think Critically and Write Superior College Term Papers. She was relatively young and related well to the students, had a great sense of humor and made the class fun. Her class was better preparation for future academic success than all of the rest of my pre-college education combined.
