What Is An Effective Teacher?

[Anrish]

First of all, I have to say that I experienced school and teachers as pure torture.

I'm a gifted child and so I got from the second right in the fourth class in elementary school. My first teacher was absolutely overchallenged with me and so the situation got even worse.

My second teachter in 4th grade was the best teacher I ever had. She didn't prefer any pupils and was strict, but also fair. She told them on my first day that I might be younger but that I'm also a normal part of the class. And I never got problems there.

I had to change school four times after this and it was always because of problems in class. No other teacher was able to deal with it. Some even blamed me because I was different. One even said on my last day before another change "The problem is gone, but not solved"...and so I was the problem. I always was.

The biggester part of my trauma is due to the years and experiences in school. One teacher even tried to talk about the problem "mobbing", but afterwards it just got worse...because everyone knew that they were talking about me.

I never had a problem to follow my teachers, but some had a problem when I was too quick. I never wanted to show off, I just wanted to talk with them and maybe increase my knowledge, but some denounced me in front of the class...

I remember one more teacher who was very important to me. I always sucked in English, because French was my first foreign language and after all these school changes I had problems keeping up in English...because on every other school that was the first language taught. In 11th grade, I went to my English teacher and told him about my problem. He gave me books to read, really interesting books and after that year, I was doing great in English. He took his time after class to explain stuff to me and he awakened my interest for the English language.

So, I only remember two good teachers. Most of them taught me fine when it's only about the school stuff. But concerning the social matters, I always had problems.

My last tutor had big problems when someone had a different opinion than hers. And I had most of the time, but I always could tell my reasons. She even shout to me in front of the class that I was latently aggressive. I talked normal and didn't shout.

I think....being an effective teacher doesn't only mean to put knowledge into pupils' heads but also to show them their abilities and to respect them - and to show the class that you shall respect every individual.

It's not an easy matter for me to write about - but I think it's important. Since school is a very important time for most children and I didn't learn a lot of social issues during that time because I always had to fight the other pupils and teachers who couldn't stand me being different.

 

[RussH]

My faorite teacher was a high school math teacher, Mrs. Dutton. I am not really sure why she is my favorite, but she is. I think part of it is the fact that she kept a well disciplined classroom, but I never remember her yelling at anyone, or really significantly disciplining anyone, but all the students respected her.

Ironically, the day I broke down emotionally, and a part of me died, and I developed PTSD was in her class.

 

[Mystery]

My high school English teacher saved my life at a time when I was so troubled. I wasn't labelled with what is called complex trauma until my early forties and had childhood sexual abuse prior to age 5. My early life caused a great deal of damage to my personality formation.

Miss Wallis, I love her to this day, would pick subjects in class that teenagers were interested in writing about. Like an essay on 'The problems faced in today's world by teenagers'. She would allow us to have a class discussion sometimes about things that 'piss you off' and just roll with the venting.

She used to write me comments at the end of my assignment, like letters. She just knew I was troubled and would really be writing me a therapy session. She took the time because she cared. She picked topics that were a little bit like therapy too so we would all write the things we feared and hoped for. I wonder if she wrote long comments like that for all the kids or just me. She helped me so much.

She would give us all a diary that was put in a locked cupboard every day. Only she read it. We had to write for 10 minutes when we came into class then she would collect them and put them in the locked cupboard in front of us. We were allowed to write, draw, graffiti, swear or whatever we wanted in there. We could write the names of our favourite pop groups if we wanted as long as we put ink to paper. I think it helped her understand what was going on in people's minds and she tailored her teaching to suit.

If someone was upset about something at home, which is often the case in adolescence, she would allow you to sit outside on the grass with a friend for however long you wanted. She put people's emotional needs first before their educational. Such a smart lady. Consequently everyone loved her class and just generally being with her so they didn't abuse the privelege of being allowed out when necessary. She told us it was an insult to our maturity to have to ask to go to the toilet and she expected us to just get up and walk out and come back, which everyone did.

 

[Let It Be]

Way before there was such a thing as computers, etc., the most effective teacher I had was my typing teacher.

She saw that I had an ability to type and I was good at it. She knew that I would strive to be as accurate at it as I could. I didn't realize I had that ability, but she did, and she rewarded me, by having me type the tests for the other teachers. The other kids couldn't understand why she doted on me and not them. At the time she didn't realize she was helping to build my self-esteem and confidence in myself that I was not receiving at home.

She knew that I needed to support myself even though I was still in high school. Thus, she found a job for me outside to go to. I would go to school in the mornings and then take a bus to the office where the school system resided for the city I lived in. I would type the requests to order all the books that the schools would need for the following year. I felt so fortunate and lucky to be doing this at my young age.

After graduation, the school system wanted me to keep working for them. At that time, my mother had kicked me out of the house, so I had to go to live with another family. I would still go to this job and I was still typing as the books were now arriving that we had ordered earlier in the year.

I am grateful to this teacher for recognizing my ability to type and I usually joke how this skill kept a roof over my head. Of course, my typing skill had to evolve as typewriters became a thing of the past, but I was able to do this, because I would remember that teacher who believed in me and supported me when I needed it the most.

Thank you for allowing me to give credit to a teacher who noticed my ability because she noticed something in me, that I didn't or wouldn't have.

 

[littlelostchild]

School was my sanctuary, not the other students as I was bullied for being a nerd and high achiever. I had many good teachers - I think for me as long as they seemed to care, that was good enough when I was young. As I got older caring, respect and making learning interesting were the qualities. I had some terrific middle school teachers who were so enthusiastic about their subjects that it made those years a lot of fun. In high school, giving us more choices about what we studied and having interesting debates and discussions made the best teachers for me.

I have often wondered if any of my teachers ever suspected that something was going on in my home. I went to summer school (my choice) for four years during high school to get extra credit and worked part time. I guess it is no wonder I became an educator.

 

[Justmehere]

One most effective teachers I had as an adult, was actually an attorney I worked with. It wasn't because she was an attorney.

She always sought to talk at my level - not down to me, or over my head. She encouraged questions, gave me things to work on, and then gave feedback in such a way where she encouraged me to improve. "You are good at this part, do more of that. This other section, it needs work, but you will get there." She also took the time to introduce me to others, later explaining things that are sort of basic relational skills that she was doing. They were skills I miss as a kid because I was so quiet and shy, and trying to survive.

She worked with a lot of people that were pretty difficult. One day, she told me, "I try to find something about everyone that I like, and there's usually something. When I focus on that, it makes everything else easier." She gave me examples. She even told me examples of people that she really struggled to find anything likable about.

She believed in me. She believed I could do better with my life. She knew I had PTSD, and while she didn't know details of the trauma, she did seek to understand what it was like to be me.

She wasn't a "teacher" in the formal sense, but she was intentionally teaching me, and she was quite effective at it.

She was also the first person who ever said she was proud of me.

 

[ms spock]

Wow thank you everybody for you comments. That is really helpful for me. It also makes me a bit teary.

 

[Friday]

Right here. My favorite teacher of all time, was pretty much everyone's favorite teacher.

 

[ms spock]

@FridayJones did you study with this teacher?

 

[Friday]

Yep! She's phenomenal. I believe she's at the UW, now teaching teaching / retirement got boring.

 

[Fadeaway]

I had bad luck with teachers as a kid. I find it amusing that I am now married to one. LOL. I guess from listening to my husband and hearing what he says was the problem i had in school was that no one addressed my learning style. SO I guess an effective teacher would be one that used different learning styles.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

I had a few stellar teachers in elementary school and jr. high. They saw something good in me and encouraged me.

The best teacher I had is my mentor friend I have known for over twenty years. So positive and smart and was there for me in the tough times and was very generous and kind. He made a profound difference in my life.