Tag: teacher

Compassion

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What makes a teacher great?

I think compassion and understanding would be great traits for teachers.

To see and understand how difficult things can be for both parents and children. I have heard of some teachers spending their own money to buy pencils and paper and equipment for their pupils.

They care far more than some teachers do. But they also understand that extra support gives children a better chance to learn. And after all that encouragement will help create a stronger, more well rounded individual in the long run.

The world needs more trust and love and less hate. I had a compassionate teacher that supported me through the loss of a relative when I tried to bottle up my feelings. That helped me to cope and I think it made me a better adult.

My Geography teacher

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Who was your most influential teacher? Why?

My geography teacher influenced me a great deal. I can’t remember his name and I gave up geography when I had to choose my subjects for my exams. I couldn’t carry on because the lessons clashed with art which was always going to be my main subject.

The reason for the influential effect was the thoughtfulness of the teacher. We learnt a broad range of things from the crops some countries grew, to vulcanism, plate tectonics, details of maps, and lots of other information. The lessons were interesting, the teacher got our attention. He explained things clearly, he was patient and understanding. We got an insight into the geo politics of the world.

I wish I could remember his name but despite my poor memory I think he was most influential.

Great teachers..

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What makes a teacher great?

Great teachers make you think. They are enthusiastic, they listen. Great teachers give you an idea you can work with and help you to understand concepts.

I had a great English teacher who once bought a pack of tarot cards into a lesson to explain there were other ideas about mythology than the normal or ordinary histories. I can’t remember much about the class but the artwork on the cards got my imagination working.

We had a great Geography teacher, who really explained clearly about all sorts of concepts, like isotherms, synclines and anticlines, geological fault lines. He made it really interesting.

And I’ve had several great Art teachers, in school and at college. The great ones gave me confidence with the work I was doing. One at school entered my art into a competition and I had a painting exhibited in our twin town in Germany. Another at college said my work had a bit of something about it.

The point is that Great teachers get us to go further and do more than we would otherwise do. Learning is dependent on you making an effort, and by having a great teacher you can be encouraged to try harder. I’m glad I had some.

So long ago?

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Who was your most influential teacher? Why?

My most influential teacher taught Geography. He was very good at explaining the subject, but he was also very humane. He would put information in context, and talk about how the world was changing. I think he talked about the population explosion. How people were being exploited, and how countries were growing cash crops despite their populations needed food for themselves. So as well as learning about oxbow lakes and contours on maps we learnt a lot about the world. I don’t think we would have been taught like that today.

Aitches

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When I was at school our teacher taught us a rhyme to remember how to pronounce the letter H (or ‘a itches are wrong’ it means you are dropping your H). It went like this:

Old Harry Oakes,

Host of the Hare and Hounds,

Has Hard, and Horribly Horny Hands!

We had to stand up and say this in class! I think it’s because we all had Birmingham accents and he wanted us to sound more middle class!

I can remember a few more rhymes and nursery rhymes that have popped into my mind recently. Is this a sign of getting old?