Role Models Shaping the Future

So I was in math class today. Watching the clock willing it to move faster when I got to thinking about teachers here at Kennedy. These were some of the things I thought about.

Dont you hate those teachers that dont teach anything, they joke all hour, get all buddy buddy with you, dont assign any homework and then hit you hard and fast with a huge test that is worth 50% of your grade that practically everyone in the class fails. Then the next day the teacher lectures you the whole hour to "be better students, study harder and ace the test next time around!!!" Yeah these teachers annoy me so much. It's like yeah we will do our job if you do yours! It's as simple as that. Maybe instead of joking around and trying to be our friends get down to business and actually be our teacher! I felt like I was always just barely above water in those classes, not yet drowning but sure as heck not doing the breast stroke either.

The other type of teachers that annoy me are the teachers that go through material way too fast and forget that they are teaching a course, not taking it. Some teachers are too smart for their own good. They try to explain something but forget we dont know it all like them and end up just confusing us even more!!! Then I feel dumb, have a couple breakdowns during the year and eventually just barely get by with a B.

I was sitting in that algebra class realizing though that we actually are blessed to have really good teachers here at Kennedy. For instance my algebra teacher Mrs. P is like the best teacher ever! And she doesnt get enough credit in my opinion. She is called nasty names and stuff and people say that she is hard because she has a no cell phone policy and gives really hard tests but I think that she is a great teacher. She gets at school at 730 in the morning for extra homework help and I mean 730 on the dot! I went in all the time freshman year and she was almost never late. 730 would roll around and she would be there with a smile on her face ready for the day to begin. Thats another thing she always looks like she is enjoying what she is doing. Some teachers I wonder why they even became teachers in the first place. They are never in a good mood and they dont like children but even though math isnt my favorite subject I am always happy to go to that class just because her positive attitude spreads throughout the room. She stays AFTER school too until 315 EVERY DAY! Unless she has a meeting or appointment and I appreciate this alot. Its her attention to detail that I love. She good just give us the work and say there solve it and good luck! But she spends that extra half hour before and after school to make sure that we succeed. She cares about her students that much and that is a quality that makes a good teacher. Today she handed back our tests and a small percentage of the students did get D's and F's and she made it a point to tell them that she was here to help them. She didnt call them stupid dumb or not worthy or anything she simply said that "This tells me that you struggle with math because this is a review of algebra 1." She finished by telling them that she was there before and after school to help and get this. "If my schedule doesnt work for you then I have the name of some great math tutors to give you too. Or you can change to a teacher that can accomodate your schedule better." She cared enough to refer a math tutor or send them to a different teacher. She is that selfless that if they succeed with a different teacher she is willing to do that. Another thing is she works just as hard as us. I hate teachers who give out work and never take the time to grade it. If we are willing to work hard enough to get this stuff done for you then you should be willing to work just as hard to get it back to us. She almost always has her tests graded two or three days after we take them depending on the length of them. And these arent those easy scantron things that take five minutes to go down and grade they are written out tests. She also has a unique way of grading it, she doesnt just give us credit for the right answers (thereby awarding cheaters) she goes through ALL of our work and gives us points for working it out correctly. She not only does all of this but writes out every single problem and how much each part is worth on the overhead the day we go over them to make sure we have no questions about it. I was thinking, how long do you think it would take to grade 80 papers, with 30 questions on them, go through ALL of the work, write it all out on the overhead and hand them all back within two days? A LOT! She works so hard. Probably harder than us just so she can see us succeed. I hate math, I hate everything about it. I am horrible in math too yet I got 102% on my last test and am getting an A in the class and found myself looking forward to 6th hour every single day. Yeah some would chalk that up to a good attitude and solely base it on the students work ethic. Not me, I know my work ethic and I know that it is the help of a wonderful teacher to get me to be all I can be. Thanks Mrs. P! You rock!

So when you get annoyed that a teacher caught you texting in class or you failed a test remember how hard your teachers work to watch you succeed in class. And thank them when you get the chance. They have earned it. (Hopefully you dont have sucky teachers but if you do, go ahead and tell them that. haha Just kidding dont that will get you in trouble, but if you dont care go ahead and do it your classmates will thankyou! I hope I dont get in trouble for writing this....Im sorry teachers! But technically it is their fault if their students dont like them, well most of the time unless the students are slackers and just goof off and get mad because the teachers wont let them text during class or whatever but now I am just rambling but hopefully I will get more words for my blog word count this week :) woot woot.) Anyway I forgot what I was saying so I will just end by saying MOST teachers work really hard. Yay :) Okay the end.

~Mildred