Teaching by example. I liked it when the teacher did or showed an example of the subject he was trying to teach us.
This post was edited by carbonproduct at May 27, 2017 12:35 PM MDT
Rote memory for the early years of learning, and then a transition into the Gestalt method of learning. (As long as the teacher knows what he is doing)
I had to think about this for a while and I think the answer is "authentic." I had some teachers who were natural storytellers and we'd learn about their life and experiences as they taught. I had others who were like stand-up comedians. Others who stuck to the lesson and were very professional, but nurturing. When I was in elementary school, I had one teacher who was especially creative and artistic. She liked to test new teaching approaches. We might design dividers for our desks out of refrigerator boxes one day or work outside the next. Another teacher had volunteered with the Peace Corps and lived in Thailand for a while. He was always teaching us about culture and weaving lessons of tolerance into other lessons. We even learned some Thai. He was firm and strict, but way ahead of his time. He got us engaged in technology too. I took Music Theater for a while. That woman was kind of kooky- she was a stereotypical drama teacher- so dramatic, loud, and larger than life. As part of music theater, she did a unit in clowning because she was part of a clown troop outside of school and loved it.
Each of these teachers left a mark on me. My English and Journalism teachers pushed me into writing (Thank you, Mr. Wheeler and Mrs. Angus!). My second-grade teacher (the creative one) inspired me to keep trying new things and to be positive. (Thank you, Mrs. Olsen!) My third and sixth-grade teacher (he took a leave to visit Thailand/ get married and came back to teach sixth grade after) taught me about the world of possibilities that existed outside my tiny town. (Thank you, Mr. Mohr!) My music theater teacher taught me a whole bunch of skills I rarely use, like making balloon animals and riding a unicycle, but above all else, she taught me how beautiful it was to touch the lives of others through portrayal, and that volunteering is impactful. (Thank you, Mrs. Morris!)
Their styles were sooooo different, but they all loved teaching and taught in their own ways, and so that made it easier to connect with them. Authenticity made the difference. By the time I got to high school, individual teaching styles fell by the wayside in favor of curriculum designed by academics who were nowhere near the classrooms. The only teacher who I remember very well was my German teacher. She got more leeway because she was the district's only German teacher. I'm not calling her out by name because I still keep in contact with her, but she knows she impacted my life.
Thank you so much for your comprehensive answer, I so much agree with you and wish teachers could be allowed again to express what they are, kids actually appreciate that, as long as the person is genuine and committed.
I didn't care one way or the other. I mainly taught myself the things I was interested in and got by with the things I wasn't. I got no inspiration from teachers except from an eight grade science teacher who, when I asked her a question, told me I wouldn't understand the answer. Obviously she didn't know the answer and it changed my life in that I knew some day I would become a science teacher...which I did.
I think my two most inspiring teachers were in Infants' and Primary Schools. Above that the curriculum was more formal so the teachers may have less flexibility, but with a few exceptions they did try to make the subject interesting.
Infants' School (age 5-7, so in 1957-9 for me): Mrs. Porter was very advanced, with a physical approach to class-room layout I have seen in no other school or college. Rather than arrange our tables in a grid she put them in conference pattern, with a big central area clear for informal lessons on the mats on the floor. This meant we were not merely units looking at the backs of heads in front, but could face each other as well as the teacher. I believe this encouraged us to spark off each other, making even things like chanting the times tables fun.
Mrs. P. also recognised my unusually early ability to read fairly complex text, so as well as the standard fare by A.A. Milne (Winnie The Pooh) etc, she often lent me her daily newspaper! I may not have understood the matters being reported but it certainly helped my English Language education. I still have the copy of Winnie The Pooh she presented me when I left - Dad's civil-service work-place was moved lock, stock and laboratory to another county, right in the middle of the school Summer Term! Governments were not "joined up" as they are nowadays.
Primary School: Mr. Hodge, my 4th year (age 10-11) form-teacher, had to follow a definite curriculum to prepare us all for an exam called the Eleven-Plus, which at the time determined your education at secondary level (11 - 15, with option to 17). Nevertheless he extended it considerably. I recall him demonstrating the principles of reflection and refraction, using glass blocks and pins, years before we learn them formally in Physics! He also introduced us to Logarithms, before we met them by curriculum in the upper school - they were used as an arithmetical tool before the invention of the calculator, and of course a good many scientific laws are logarithmic.
Mr. Hodge also ran an after-school "Radio Club" in which we built very simple crystal sets, with no power input other than the radio signal itself, but capable of picking up the BBC's 'Home Service' (now Radio Four). They needed a long wire ariel, good earth connection, and without any amplification, sensitive headphones.
{For any electronics engineers here, these radios were a diode, inductor and variable (for tuning)-capacitor network, driven by the r.f. signal p.d. between ariel and earth. The components were pocket-money buys from a local electronics-enthusiasts' shop; the case, a plastic food-box.}
I should add my parents were very encouraging, without being "pushy", which I regard as bullying. I think I disappointed them by turning out academically very mediocre, but to their credit they did not make an undue fuss about it. After all it was my future, not theirs.
Just Asking 