In conceptual physics all eyes are on the teacher. There is no talking and the teacher demands the respect of the students and their constant attention. In honors physics the kids talk, they text, they pay very little attention to the teacher and he doesn't ask for it. I've noticed a serious lack of respect in this school between students and teachers. Students maybe talk about their teachers positively; they do like a majority of their teachers but they don't treat their teachers appropriately. I believe that, partially, it is the fault of the student because it is their job to learn, but also the majority of the fault falls in the hands of the teachers. They teach to a noise class, they don't necessarily engage their students in the material, and they let the students walk all over them. Perhaps the students don't respect the teachers because they feel they don't always deserve respect. I've witnessed an unprofessional teacher first hand today.
Today a teacher, who shall remain nameless, was talking about similar triangles and his students started to refer it to CPCTC (corresponding parts of congruent angles are congruent). This is a geometry term that you use when solving proofs about congruent triangles. The kids were explaining to the teacher what CPCTC meant and his immediate reaction was to call it useless. He told his students that CPCTC sounded like a waste of time and that you should stop memorizing it now. He basically called it a waste of memorization and brain space. Immediately after he said it I was VERY offended. I found it so unprofessional to denounce another subject and say that another teachers curriculum was useless. I'm sure I overreacted a little (not that I said anything anyway) but I was very angry when he said this. I felt that I needed to share it because I would hope that no teacher in any school, needless to say PMHS or even MV would ever let a teacher denounce another teachers subject. It was very unprofessional.
Furthermore, as a student, I can say (off the top of my head) that their are three key things that teachers must have/do to be an effective teacher. Teachers must know their subject material, engage their students, and demand respect. If the teacher doesn't know their material, then they are not qualified to teach. If the teacher doesn't engage his or her students then there is no guarantee that the students are learning and that puts too much responsibility in the students to learn (though they do deserve some responsibility). If they do not demand respect then the students may not be able to find a logical reason to pay attention. As a teacher you are the head of the class. It is your job to educate your students in their subject and also teach them about how to function in the real world. If a student doesn't learn to respect their teachers then when will they learn to respect their bosses? Also, all of these key components lend themselves to each other. If your students respect you then they will want to engage. If you know your material your students may want to engage and they may respect you. I'm sure there are other key components to teaching (as I am not a teacher and I may not know all of the work that goes into teaching) but the three I listed seen to be three of the most important from a students perspective.
I apologize for the rant-like style of his blog. As part of my stay in New York, I've decided to note the different teaching styles of teachers and I felt it necessary to write down that I witnessed today before I forgot it. I hope this blog doesn't offend anyone and it can be viewed solely as the opinion of a traveling student.
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