I’ve had many teachers over the years. Some good, some bad, some that really don’t stand out. Well, at the moment, I’ve got one who’s pretty bad. It’s always interesting when you get one of these, because there are a lot of different things that can make a teacher bad. Getting a bad grade isn’t necessarily one of them, though it can be. Sometimes it’s because the teacher’s boring. Sometimes they just aren’t good at presenting. It can go on.
This particular teacher is an older guy. He seems like a very nice guy, and it’s obvious he knows his stuff. I have heard that he’s good at explaining stuff if you go to him outside class. However, I’m rarely interested in his class. While the material isn’t that hard (thank God), he talks slowly, and often stands in front of exactly what he’s writing on the board, making it hard to take notes.
Now, I consider myself a technical person, and in general I generally find math and other technical subjects interesting. Now, this should be an advantage. Generally, when I read about something I’m interested in, I retain it more easily. Though I know everyone’s different, I’ll take a stab here and and say that this is probably the case for a lot of people. I think that a good teacher is someone who can latch on to this, and while they may not make the subject interesting all the time, they at least give you the tools to do so yourself. By this I mean that they’ll do things like talk loudly, move at a good average pace for the class, and pretty much just get the point across in the most efficient way possible.
I’ve had good teachers who do in fact accomplish this and, as I mentioned, this particular teacher is lacking. Nevertheless, I’m kind of stuck with the class. I guess it could be a lot worse; I could get one of those teachers who flips out at the mere mispronunciation of his name (I’ve heard a few stories). It’s just something I’ll have to work through.