Something to read....

The other day I was sitting at the computer, bored, looking for something to read...
Not a book, and not the news, and not the usual jokes... Just something to boggle my mind to think about it.

So I decided to google "something to read" and found articles just like this one, advocating RSS feeds and Google Reader and other subscription readers.

But this article crossed my path : What makes a great teacher.

I've been a student for a while, and met my share of teachers. And I've been a teacher for a while as well, and met my share of students.


Let's look at the first side of the coin: What is a great teacher for me.

I'm studying at a University, finished 2 years so far... And many of my teachers tried to teach me, and some even succeeded :)

In my opinion, I've had at least 2 great teachers during this time. Teachers who were willing to answer any and all of my questions, to the point, and at any given time of the day.
Believe me, when a teacher answers your questions at 2 am in the morning(!), they definitely want you to succeed.

But some teachers take their job for granted. They come, they explain, and hope you got something along the way.

Of course whether you succeed, is not entirely up to them. I also put in a lot of hard work and time to succeed.
When learning something new, you have to have a goal to learn it. If you're just studying to pass a test, it may not be enough.

Some years ago, I was studying to pass the final math exam in high school. And my teacher was not teaching to "know the material", she was teaching us to pass the exam.
And there were 3 exams you needed to take in order to pass the exam. And she said : "Pass the first one with 100, 2nd one with 80, and the 3rd one with 30% and you pass the exam."
I hardly consider that good teaching, as I never thought a teacher would suggest getting 30 on any exam.
I needed a certain grade to get into the University, so, naturally, I didn't listen to her.

But then again, the teacher who answered my questions at 2 am in the morning, she didn't tell me to get an X grade on the exam, I got the grade I was going for with ease, because I was confident in what I knew.

I've been helping 10 year old kids with their math for the last couple of years. And I found out some interesting facts.
Some kids want to learn, and with some incentive they will learn the material quickly and easily. And others, well, they sit in class because they are supposed to.
And will cause hell to the rest of the class if they don't get something that they want.
Since they are kids, I've found some nice tricks to get them to learn the material.
For example, presenting it to them as a story .... or promising something that I can complete at the end of the class, if they sit down and listen to what I have to teach them.

Today was my final day this year, in this project. And I came in to the class as usual, only this time, to say goodbye to the kids. They refused to let me go :) And it was also hard for me to leave.
I came in during the usual math lesson, with this nice teacher. And the kids thought I was going to take them out for another lesson. When I told them it was my final day, they refused to let me go.

They reminded me again, how fun it was to teach them. Even one girl managed to learn so well, she could explain the same material to another of her class mates. And that right there, inspires me to continue, when things get tough. Because I know she understood something new, with my help.