My best and worst teachers - A, B, C or F?

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(Edited)

As a young girl, I was eager to learn and back in those days the encyclopedia became my best friend. I also read the newspapers because adults did that daily. I was very impressed - it seemed like a special thing to emulate. Most times I had zero understanding of what I read but I was encouraged nonetheless. I was very curious. You might be familiar with the saying,
“Curiosity killed the cat”.
I do not agree. I was edified because of curiosity and gained a lot of general knowledge as a result.

As a young girl, I looked up to my teachers and thought they were the perfect examples of good humans and citizens because of their knowledge. I thought it was great that they knew so much and chose a profession where they could share their knowledge with students. I was always impressed at the primary school level because they seemed all knowing. I thought teachers were walking encyclopedias.

At high school, I realized that I could ask many questions and that being assertive was not a bad thing. I understood that teachers did not know everything but the good ones will find the answers.
I had some great teachers at the basic, high school and tertiary levels. I feel as though the majority of them stimulated me to do well and to continue learning until today.

However, I’ve had bad teachers too. Some of those bad teachers/lecturers just seemed bored, disenchanted or fed up with their vocation. In the case of a marketing lecturer, she was just young and nervous, but still pedantic. She was often mostly overwhelmed by the bright questioning students in the class. She sighed a lot. Others could not get their noses out of the books whilst others made annoying students' their most important task during a lesson. Unfortunately, the bad teachers stood out like a sore thumb because they left an indelible mark - a scar really - trauma maybe. Ok, I do not want to exaggerate - you can decide after reading my ensuing story.

university lecture hall-March 2023

Mr. Math 101

My worst teacher award goes to Mr. Math 101. He gets a F- for total failure as a grade. He was my first year university lecturer for basic Mathematics or Math 101. He was a very haughty man whose voice was as big as his presence. At first, I thought I would like him because I wanted to like everything about the novelty of university. I even liked his inquisitive and teasing nature at first.

During the first lesson, he asked a few questions and I knew the answers but did not raise my hand as so many hands were already raised. They were all easy questions. I figured he was trying to ascertain the level of the class. The more he spoke the harder the questions became and fewer and fewer hands were raised. Soon no hands went up but I knew the answer so I raised my hand. The answer was right so he asked me a few more questions and I got them right too. He asked me how I knew the answer and I told him that I did GCE Advanced level math in England. He asked me to explain it so I told that it was a 2 year study of Pure and Applied Mathematics after high school. Then he jokingly faked a British accent saying,
“So you will be the “smart aleck” who knows all the answers.”
I did not react. I felt uncomfortable.

Nevertheless, I thought it would be a nice easy start; who does not like getting good grades. For the first test, I scored an A but I did not need to tell anyone because he made an announcement to the class.
“Miss Smarty got an A!”
I was shocked at this lecturer's behavior.

After a while, the familiar topics were over, so the next lessons I needed to learn. Things became difficult. It was not the material but the attitude of the teacher. He greeted me daily in a fake British accent then carried on with the lesson. Then one day he asked me,
“Why don’t I see your raised hand Miss Smarty - participation is required.”

It wasn't because of his “new” accent why I stopped participating, it was because I already drew enough negative attention. In every lesson he had something to say to me and it became awkward. I was not attentive during the lesson because I felt uncomfortable. I was always picked on or the lecturer would make sly comments such as,
“I wonder if MoMoGrOw, our British A' level math genius knows the answer” or
“Has Momogrow done this subject already - we do not hear her now.”

There were variations of the same slur in almost every lesson. Some of my classmates said it was harassment but what could I do about that?

I could not handle the situation - so I stopped attending classes. After all, this was university/ I was not obligated. I remember my year counselor asking why Math 101 was going badly whilst everything else was going well. When I explained, she only encouraged me to continue attending lesson to maintain a good grade point average. She did not want to hear about how I was treated and had no advice for me.

As a result, I spent little time on Math 101. That proved to be a mistake. Even if the subject was easy, I needed to know what to focus on. Lectures were there for a reason - I needed guidance and was now missing out. Appearing only for tests meant my grades became mediocre and also my final exams. I just managed an overall passing grade. I was lucky - thank goodness I didn’t need to repeat that class. That would have been a nightmare.

Mr. Calculus and Mrs. Biology

The following year my calculus teacher asked, after my first test for which I got an A,
“MoMoGrOw, what happened last year?"
I responded,
“I was not there.”

It was the truth and it was best not to talk about it. Mr Calculus looked at me quizically but did not question me further. He was like night and day to Mr. Math 101. He was one of the best - an A grade for sure. I loved the lessons and did great. However, if I write about my favorite teacher - I must go back to high school. I must speak of Mrs. Biology. She gets an A+ as an overall grade. Like Mr. Calculus, she made learning fun.

Biology was my favorite subject because I wanted to know everything about my body and my brain. I was lucky to have a great teacher. She taught classes in a conversational manner. She explained everything so well. Mrs. Biology was like a patient friend who wanted to help me understand everything. She made those thick textbooks less daunting. From the basics to the advanced - all made sense as we went literally deeper and deeper. It was so fascinating - I could just imagine it all. The classes became so interesting I would just read ahead and wait for her stories and be ready with my questions. She was passionate about Biology. She only needed the book for illustrations etc.

The entire class loved her as she was such a nice lady but most importantly, she loved teaching and she did it so well. Mrs. Biology challenged and motivated us. I felt we all wanted to do well because of her. I've seen her only once after graduating high school but I will never forget her.

All teachers - good or bad - make a difference. Inevitably they leave a lasting impression on their students. They can change the course of their students’ lives and ultimately their choices. I wish they could all aim for a passing grade.


The photo is my own



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24 comments
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What a jerk Mr Math 101 is!!! Why did he have to pick on you?!!! 😡 That's just not on for a lecturer!!

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Yes he was a real jerk. I never figured out why he decided to pick on me. It was so inappropriate - it was really bizarre. I almost flunked that class not only because I was not attending it but I found it so hard to study Math. It was a wierd time but luckily - I never encountered a situation like this thereafter.

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I also had a Mathematics lecturer when I was at the University. I disliked him so much. He was always picking on me and he cursed me.
I will never forget

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Oh my goodness @rafzat - you also had an ogre. Sorry about that. Could it be that Math drove them nuts or are these particular individual just innately nasty? Well I think you and I met the later. Thank goodness not all teachers are like this. Like you - I will never forget.

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Beautiful write up. Nice to read this, aside from that one Math teacher.

I like to think that I was such a teacher to some, an inspiring one, for sure.

Just a shame that I burnt out so quickly and had to remove myself from the system, as it was suffocating me, something that happens to many a good teacher.

xx

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Aww thank you Vincent. I have seen many good teachers become burnt out and stopping. I am sorry that happened to you too. The system and sometimes the classrooms are too much to handle. I can imagine that you were an inspiring teacher. Knuffels

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The system and sometimes the classrooms are too much to handle.

Hear hear!

I can imagine that you were an inspiring teacher. Knuffels

Thank you! :<)

Knuffel!

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Mr Math 101 doesn’t sound like a teacher I’d fancy much either. He was being a jerk and his behavior is surprising for a lecturer. You’d think the ridicule would’ve come from the students.

I think I’ve had one or two teachers like Mrs Biology too. In my case, He was Mr Chemistry(also from my high school days) and he’s the exact description of Mrs Biology. I miss his teaching and wished more of my lecturers at the university were like him.

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No he was a horrible teacher. The other students were intimidated because of the way he behaved towards me. It was not a nice atmosphere.
It is great that you had a nice teacher like Mrs. Biology. I treasured the way she taught me as I was truly inspired.

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Your restraint is commendable. I think I would have had to confront him or alternatively follow him to the canteen and put laxatives in his coffee.

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Lol I wish I could have. In retrospect, I wish I was the type to speak up. I was too happy go lucky and non-confrontational though. Even the counselor seems scared of him so I did nothing. I thought ignoring him would help but it didn’t. I think he must have been a miserable person.

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Oh and I almost forgot to mention that I had one of the worst math teachers ever, in the last 3 years of high school. She was pretty much the reason that I started disliking maths, my grades dropped and I was close to having to do the year over, in all those three years. In the end, I barely passed, every single year, due to a poor math grade, after having no trouble at all in the third three years.

Okay, it was not all her fault, I started enjoying school a lot less, I guess and lost focus, but she sure was a terrible teacher and seemed to really dislike me.

Knuffel!

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Aww - sorry to hear that. She definitely had a negative impact on you even if it was not totally her fault. Like you I figured Mr. Math 101 did not like me and I was fine with that - just wished he would leave me alone.
Knuffel

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Like you I figured Mr. Math 101 did not like me and I was fine with that

I probably wasn't fine with it. I was still in high school and it was too intense, in these small class rooms with teachers like her ;<)

Knuffel!

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I realized something when I was in the university, no course is hard it's all depends on who is teaching you the method the person is using to teach you because we have different types of teaching methodology. Some courses are so light but the lecturers make it so hard. Someone like mr math 101 will always piss you off and it will be so hard for you to get what his teaching you.

I'm glad you have a favorite teacher and love her subject and biology is so wide you must be very brilliant to know it that deep , well what am I even saying it is so obvious of how brilliant you are in school.

Your write up is so beautiful Momo 🤗 I'm always happy reading it, thanks for sharing 💕

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Thank you @moremoney28. Teachers can make a class worth going to by their teaching methods or terrible. The funny thing is that Mr. Math 101 disturbed his own class by harassing me. He made it unpleasant for the other students who were in fear that during my absence he would find someone else to target. He must be a miserable person.

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I have someone like that during my university days, if we have 2 hours lecture he will use one hour 30mins to a abuse us and all sought of things. I'm telling you some teachers are so worst

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True all teachers make a difference and can't never be all good or bad. In my case, I have had more bad than good teachers but I've always managed to cope.
My favorite teacher is my maths teacher who taught me for seven years (secondary and high). He was playful yet very strict. He made sure that we never joked with his classes or subject and that was to our advantage as it made us study hard.
Sadly, after highschool and six years into university, I haven't had up to five good teachers. This is more or less about their characters or attitudes as for some it is their way of teaching or speaking (accent, not being fluent in English etc).

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Aww it is nice that you had a good math teacher. Pity though that most were bad teachers. It is difficult when an additional impediment to learning is speech. If one cannot understand the accent that makes learning the subject harder.

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