Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results

While growing up and observing my teachers at school, I have learned that it isn’t always an easy job. Teachers do everything they can to teach their students’ academic, social and other formative skills. Plenty of my teachers have to deal with complications, most of them being minor, but it isn’t always an easy job helping children, teens and young adults. As a student myself, I know they can be stubborn, unwilling to learn, aggressive, and irresponsible. Sometimes, they simply don’t care. However, that is a teacher's purpose: to help and shape their students to become better learners, so that they have a clearer understanding regarding a variety of subject matters. Someday, I actually want to become an elementary art teacher, which is

While reading Journal 1 of The Alternative and reflecting on the assignment giving, memories of teachers flooded through my mind. I am unabashed to admit that I believed some teachers to be poor at their job, and have more than once thought that perhaps this wasn’t the correct career path for them. One such teacher was my 7th and 8th grade science teacher, who believed public shaming to be the preferable way of teaching adolescents. When a student would answer a question wrong in class he couldn’t help but laugh as well as bring it up throughout the lesson, refusing to let the student move past their mistake. He chose to

These stereotypes of teachers inspire the general public by showing a “fairy-tale version” of what truly happens in the classroom. The movies make it look like there is always some huge triumph at the end of the day and everyone ends up learning what they need to learn. This does not always mean learning the classroom material. Breault states that in most of the movies studied the teachers are more focused on teaching life lessons as opposed to the basic knowledge that should be taught in the classroom. The article also discusses how the teaches are viewed as heroes who save the students and advocate for them outside of the classroom. The teachers in the movies are praised for never teaching with a textbook or teaching regular course curriculum. The pictures show that the real live classroom is a lot more structured than what is portrayed in

Wow, is all I could think as I read this statement in the article. To expect great work, educators must provide students with the necessary skills to produce great work. The example of a teacher assigning a complex paper on the first day of school without guidance, and expecting the students to submit quality work was an awesome example to drive this point home. This statement made me reflect on my instructional processes. I remember having a teacher in high school that was guilty of this offense. She had the reputation of being the tough teacher, but really her instructional methods didn’t support the high expectations that she had for the students in her class. Therefore, students never meet her expectation, but it was because of her lack of instruction. Moving forward, I will now assess my teaching more closely. I refuse to be the teacher that assigns challenging work, and not teaching challenging

In the essay “I Just Wanna Be Average,” Mike Rose explains how the failure of students is all revolved around the teachers, when the fault should be put on everybody.

The teachers profiled in “Unforgettable Miss Bessie”, “My Favorite Teacher”, and “And the Orchestra Played On” are remembered and admired by the narrators. Miss Bessie, Miss Hattie, and Mr. K. possessed significant qualities that made them remarkable educators. They inspired and encouraged students. They only wanted the best for their students and prepared them for their futures, enabling them to overcome difficulties in school. Besides the content of their subject matter these educators their taught students to believe that their lives and future all depends from themselves: whether they would choose the clean asphalt road or dirty, bumpy one.

While writing this text Joanne was attempting to prove the point of if a teacher is stern it might be for the greater good, as she increased her confidence while playing in the orchestra and became what she is today. Without the assistance of Mr. K I don't believe any of the students would have been taught discipline and dedication on their everyday activities in

In today’s society, a quality teacher is considered an individual that allows students to understand emotions, is compassionate towards their students, and will go above and beyond for the student so they are able to reach their full potential. In the short story “The Kid Nobody Could Handle” written by Kurt Vonnegut, Mr. George Helmholtz demonstrated the superior qualities that illustrate a quality teacher. The qualities that Mr. Helmholtz shows throughout the short literature are; determination, compassion and naivety.

Author and speaker of the compelling article Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results, Joanne Lipman informs the public on different teaching styles and which ones have the best results. Dabbling in the careers of journaling, editing, and writing, obviously attending Yale University has given Ms. Lipman many opportunities to succeed in life in different areas. Although, having such a sheltered life as a white and privileged woman will obviously give her a different perspective of this topic. Joanne is automatically given the upperhand and is taught from an early age a different way to think about different subjects. Ms. Lipman was fortunate enough to go to a high-ranking high school in New Jersey which could have molded her thoughts about teachers and their teaching strategies. When reading parts of the article we can find examples of her knowledge on the subject, “We’re in the midst of a national wave of self recrimination over the U.S. education system” (Lipman 4) the reader acquires the sense that she is exceptionally well informed on the topic of the education system. With this comprehension of the issue, I can assume that Ms. Lipman has primarily worked in the education field. The background of an author is an immensely important quality when it comes to their works of literature. Not only does it show their point of view, but also their bias which proves to be influential to the readers. Creative and factual, Joanne spreads her point throughout the article thoroughly,

Joanne Lipman, the voice as well as the author of “Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results” former Yale student. Now fifty-four years old with two fully grown children, Andrew and Rebecca. Writes this paper inspired by a former music teacher Jerry Kupchynsky. A message that the reader can assume in this article that Mrs. Lipman felt gratitude towards Mr. Kupchynsky shown in her writing, "the belated surge of gratitude for a teacher who basically tortured us through adolescence." (Lipman 1). This passage explains even though Mr. Kupchynsky, a strict teacher, Mrs. Lipman felt grateful for the chance to learn discipline at such a young age. Although another logical assumption regarding Mrs. Lipman, if the author happen to come from an upper-class

In “To Teach the journey of a teacher” by William Ayers different teaching styles are introduced. The book teaches us that nobody is a perfect teacher. A couple myths from the book include time management is essential to teaching and you learn everything you need to know about teaching in college. Everyone will have off days when they are teaching and it is not going to go perfectly. Also, you cannot really understand teaching until you are actually in a classroom experiencing it for yourself. School may teach you basic skills and situations that you may encounter, but it is not real until you actually experience a crisis for yourself. Some other myths in the book are all teachers treat their students the same and all students will perform above average. Children come from all different backgrounds and start school in different places. There is no way that teachers can treat every single student the same and ensure that they will all be above average. Overall the book was full of myths that show what other people think of teachers.

Hence, after we look at all these case studies, we could conclude that the students’ academic performance is clearly tied to teacher’s expectation. In other words, the students who were deemed as “better” or “good” ends up achieving better also due to the higher expectation that the teacher was giving to them. These result, especially Rosenthal and Jacobson’s, demonstrated extremely powerful self-fulfilling prophecy on the part of the teacher. This is because when a teacher forms certain expectations towards their students based on whatever characteristics

Authoritative teachers will often “try to catch their students being good” and will reinforce the good behavior, rather than focusing on the bad. (Iannelli, 2004). It is critical that teachers praise their students for their efforts. A teacher can teach the entire classroom by recognizing one child’s positive action. Children desire praise and they will learn appropriate behavior when their fellow students receive praise. When teachers focus on bad behavior and make an example of a particular student to the entire classroom, it only makes the child that is being reprimanded feel alienated, ashamed, embarrassed, or possibly revengeful.

Now that I can see the difference in good and bad teaching I have two teachers in mind that fit each description. The first being my favorite teacher. She was both my third and sixth grade teacher. She showed me that I could be what ever I wanted to be. She made me feel that even though I was not the best student in the class I still could be the best if I gave a little more. She motivated me to do all my work and gave me the extra boost I need to learn. When the students in my class did something right she always praised us. She also played game with us to learn. According to the book it says. ?If the teacher keeps the students involved they will be more likely to like school and learn in school.?

Teaching is a very rewarding career if you learn and understand how to work with the diversity of the classrooms we teach in. As teachers, we need to be more vigilant of where are students come from. Before we can teach we need to know who we are teaching and what background, knowledge, and customs they bring with them to the classroom. We must also be aware of the factors that are relevant to the academic achievement of the students we currently teach. There are many of these factors, but I want to focus on two; teacher quality and low teacher expectations.