29 Jan 2018 Who Were Your Influential Teachers Or Classes?

What Influential Teachers and Classes Have You Had?

In looking back at my formal education, there a few classes that stand out that really had an impact on me.  Some were positive and others not so.

On the positive side the first was math in 9^th grade.  Mr. Knauff was the instructor.  His teaching style made the subject come alive.  I just understood it.  It made me really appreciate math.  Now, I did so well that they put me on an independent study program where I worked on the material by myself in the library.  I also changed teachers for this.  I found out I am terrible at independent study.  I need the discipline of the classroom and the instruction from the teacher.  Also, the library was the worst place for me because I spent the time reading and not doing math.  My math grade plummeted.  So, my 9^th grade year in math was half great, half not so great.

The next positive class that made an impact was Mongolian history in college.  I can’t remember the instructors name; however, he was so enthusiastic.  It gave me insight into a part of the world I heard about, but never knew details or the impact the Mongols had on Asia and Europe. I ended up taking 3 classes of his on the subject.  It made me love history and started me on a life long journey of reading about it. 

An example for the not so positive, an instructor that was nice but who was terrible at teaching was the one I had for calculus 101, which was the first in a three part college calculus sequence.  I took this course when I turned 40.  I wanted to go back to college and fix my mistakes from the first time I went.  So here I was in a large lecture hall with 75 other students, mainly 18-20 year olds.  The instructor was an adjunct, that is he is not a professor but someone who had a job outside of the university and taught as a side effort.  In the 14 weeks we had for the semester, he did not get past the 3^rd chapter of a 12 chapter syllabus until the 6^th week.  He did not know how to teach or use time management.   Also, he did not require people to memorize equations as every other calculus teacher did.  We had open book, open note exams.  The test questions came from the book we used.  Now, could I have memorized the material, yes but I didn’t.  I don’t think anyone got less than a B in the class.  The young people in the class thought it was great how he was teaching.  However, it did not prepare us well for calc 102.  In that class, you were expected to have the equations memorized.   There was no open book or open note tests.  So, an instructor who thought was doing well in fact was not.

The quality of the instructor had a huge impact on how well the class material was retained or even enjoyed by the student.  It made me realize how important teachers are in the development of children and how we as a society must recognize that.