Things you want future teachers to know.
How have past teachers made school more enjoyable for you? Was there a project you really liked? Something they did in the classroom that you enjoyed? If not something you liked, what is something that all teachers should avoid doing?
Explain.
I liked my elementary French teacher because she was kind and was a great teacher. I learned a lot from her. But even though at times she could be strict it was only because she wanted us to learn. When I was living in Japan I had one of the best English teachers ever, he was very funny and always making us laugh (like Mr. Katz) and he was a great teacher to have. One of the projects I liked the most with my French teacher was a science project and we could do any experiment we wanted so it was fun to see what the other students did. I usually liked to read in class because it was more quiet and peaceful and because I like to read. Especially novels, I don’t really like reading an article about something. Teachers should avoid being disorganized, because if they are then students will be too. Also they should avoid giving too much homework or else it will just pile up on us.
ReplyDeleteMy elementary French teacher was great too.
DeleteMy grade 4 french teacher was amazing too.
DeleteProjects usually stress me out ! Almost every project stresses me because I always think about everything that could go wrong. I think that teachers should avoid giving us so little time until the due dates. Some of my elementary school teachers used to assign us large projects with only a few days to do it. Don’t they realize how much stress we’re under? Every time I was assigned a project with very little time to get it done, I stressed and I got very nervous. So please, keep that in mind and assign your projects on time. Also, make the projects clear by explaining clearly what we need to do and be available for our questions.
ReplyDeleteProjects are very stressful for me as well.
DeleteGreat blog!
-Isabella DiMarco
I totally agree with you. Most of the people I know are usually under stress... Great blog! :)
DeleteTeachers have made school more enjoyable for me when they don't give us tests everyday! Something my teacher did that I really liked would be in grade four science class we got to look at chocolate bars and do experiments with them, like how long it takes for them to melt in your mouth. I definitely think that one thing teachers should avoid doing is to give us 3 or 2 days notice for a test or project. I think it should be at least a week.
ReplyDeleteYa tests everyday SUCK! they should totally give a week like u said! Great blog!
DeleteYes! PLEASE! Teachers, give us a weeks notice before telling us we have a test! It's frustrating to find out a few days in advance.
DeleteGreat point! like we need to know about our tests in advance please, like at least a week!
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ReplyDeleteFor me last year was the best year of my life but this year Mr.Katz has made such an amazing year I'll never forget! On Saturday I saw my teacher from last year Mrs.Gerecum and I was as star struck as humanly possible! We just said hi because she was on the phone but I couldn't think about anything all day I still can't! My french teacher Mr.Santella completely changed my life forever! I used to HATE french because I never had positive experiences because teachers used to never introduce things properly and wouldn't explain things just give homework which teachers shouldn't do! But he was different he explained things and made learning fun! He made me love french and his class was soooooo fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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ReplyDeleteAll teachers have different teaching styles, but what I find most helpful to me is the passion a teacher has for the subject and the level of interest they show in their students. The best teachers are those that find fun ways to teach the subject material. I find the worst classes are those where the teacher just talks, like they are going out of their way to bore the students.
I liked most of the projects I got assigned during Grade 7, although sometimes I had many different projects to do at one time, so it was hard to manage all of them at once. The one that really sticks out for me is the video I did after we finished reading the Outsiders. I spent ages perfecting this project, and while at first I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to do a good job, I actually ended up surprising myself with what I actually accomplished, and felt quite proud of myself!
I had great teachers in elementary school, they made learning enjoyable. Most of them made elementary really fun by being kind, funny and always tried to understand the students. Another thing that makes school more enjoyable is when students can understand what their teachers are teaching. Some of my past and present teachers do not explain things in a way where everyone can understand, which makes us stressed and worried about tests and exams. It's also really important for a teacher to be exciting and capture the students attention because, if they want us to succeed in their class, they need to be entertaining so that we don't get bored and loose focus while they teach. The most important thing though, is to be friends with your students. A lot of teachers say, "I'm not here to be your friend". That is really disappointing because all students want to get along with their teachers since it makes the classroom 10x more fun for the students! Just be friendly, because it goes a long way.
ReplyDeleteI agree teachers need to be entertaining so that us students don't fall asleep during class!!!!!! GREAT BLOG!!!!!!!
Delete-Caitlin Wallis
I think that teachers need to be nice as well, great blog.
DeleteI loved all my teachers a lot. Even now I can only really think of a few that I could genuinely say that I disliked. I find that there is a fine balance between a teacher that is peppy and nice/funny, and a teacher that is trying too hard, and there is also a fine balance between strict and genuinely mean. I find that it's important for a teacher to respect these qualities and make sure not to be mean or try to hard to be funny because that can make the class awkward and students will focus more on things like " OMG! what is this teacher doing?!" or " OMG! can you like not be so mean?!"instead of actually working.
ReplyDeleteIn elementary school I had this one teacher who was amazing! She was a new teacher who was new to my school and she taught grade four. The reason why I liked her was she never got mad and yelled at us. She always kept her cool and got to know us all personally. She got to know all about us and never forgot what we told her. When I was in grade five and six, I would always say hi to her in the morning and she would wave back or say hi. One of the projects that I remember was a project on a planet. The planet that I chose was Mercury. I learnt a whole bunch of new things about this planet. One of the things that I learnt that always stayed in my mind was that even though Mercury is the closest planet to the sun it is not the hottest, Venus is. After lunch, every day, we would have independent quiet reading for about 30 minutes. Most teachers would make you read at your desks but she was different. She let us sit on the back table (that was big enough you could have three kids laying down), she had all these bean bag chairs all over the classroom that you could sit in whenever you wanted too. All teachers should avoid saying things that aren't true. I once had a teacher who always got mad and raged at us and scared everyone. She said that she never had to yell at anyone like this before not even her kids. But my sister and I were walking to our bus stop and heard her screaming (actually screaming is an understatement) at her children. I've never told her that but ever since I heard her, I've never trusted a word she said. Teachers should also avoid picking favourites or if they do don't make it obvious. In grade six, my English teacher had one favourite and made sure everyone knew that that student was the best. The funny thing about that was my teacher and her favourite always got into fights about the student's attitude.
ReplyDelete-Caitlin Wallis
I really liked my elementary school projects. There was a project we had to do last year and it was to take care of an egg and give it a box to stay in for about 3-4 days and we had to avoid cracking or breaking them since they were very fragile. But something that I think all teachers should definitely avoid is giving students such little time to do a project and any project for that matter.
ReplyDeletei also liked my elementry schiol projects good blog
DeleteI also really liked that project it was really fun but I don't think we got enough time to do it.
DeleteI have actually had some good projects where my teachers got creative and i wouldnt mind doing it again. The cake project that we are doing right now is really cool. i also enjoyed when our teachers gave us film projects cause those are always fun to make. Teachers need to learn that we already go to school for 7 hours a day and they expect us to do more work at home, it dosent make sense. Im going to move to finland were they nevr give homework. Thats enjoyab;e
ReplyDeleteI really injoyed a project in my French class with my teacher madame Tadros. We did a recycleling project that we had to use recycled objects to make something useful. I made bols out of paper mache.I presented my project and ended getting a 90 percent. I think the coolest part of is that I proved to us that you can do many things with reclylable items and to respect the environnement.
ReplyDeleteWow that's cool
DeleteGreat Blog!!
Well currently, I find teachers have a lot to learn from you Mr. Katz you Utilise technology, the unique and fun test and projects, the good humor and much more. I feel some teachers should avoid being too harsh in class, it can cause irritation and disliking of you as a teacher. Plus us students don't like too much homework, with our day over, we deserve a break.
ReplyDeleteWe work too hard, we deserve a break.
DeleteGreat Blog!!!
My grade 4 french teacher was my favorite. She would make the class so fun and I never really felt bored. We would do worksheets in our free time called "enrichissements" or we'd write one sentence every morning and write down what each word was (ex: adjective, préposition or déterminant) and if we got them right, we would get fake dollars/points. At the end of each term, your team or the group that you sit with with the most dollars/points, they'd get free time. My team was always the most competitive and we always won! We read a big french book, and after every chapter, she would explain it to us in english which really needed. My favorite projects were always where you presented your family tree and brought food to represent your heritage. Those projects were the easiest because you didn't have to memorize anything because you're just talking about your family. I don't really know what teachers should avoid doing.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest in elementary school my teachers used to give us 2 weeks to so a project. But now the teachers that I have they only give us a couple of days to work on a project. I find that unfair. A project that I really liked was in grade 3, we got to do a project on whatever we wanted. I did it on my pug Henry. It was so fun I wrote a really long speech about my dog and when I got up to read it to my class I realised that I have to read all of that and just froze. Teachers should avoid giving you lots of homework. They should also avoid giving project, where you only have a few days to do it.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed that project as well, because we could talk about whatever we liked and it showed a lot about our personality. Great blog!
DeleteIn the past, the things teachers did that I enjoyed were: learning while still having fun (games or fun activities), properly explaining a subject with notes or work, giving homework to make us learn but not overloading us with work, and doing fun projects that make us understand the topic. My favourite one of these things is playing games or doing activities that help you learn about a subject. Last year we would play a game show time game where we would be part of a team and we went up to the front of the class with a white board and a marker. At the front of the class, there would be one member of each team. A name was picked out of a hat to see what the topic would be. When the topic was chosen there would be a question for that topic. Teams would gain points by answering correctly. I found that game really fun, because we mostly did it for math which tested our knowledge on the subject in a different way than the norm. On the other hand, I really don’t like it when teachers don’t make the class exciting at all. I dislike it when as soon as you get in class the first thing you start with is work. There is no discussion about how was your weekend, how did the homework go last night, or even just a story that the teacher wants to tell. I also don’t like it when all you do in class is work, there is no lesson. Don’t get me wrong, I am all about getting homework done early, but at some point we need to learn something other than just working. The last thing I dislike that teachers do is when they just sit at their desks and don’t walk around. I find it is more inviting to ask a teacher a question when they are walking around the class then when they are just sitting at their desk.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite ways I ever learnt something, was in 4th grade, when we did a module on artists with the other class. We learnt stuff about the artists in many different ways, reproducing splatter paint, reading, group activities,a final project, etc. I did my project on the guy who painted the scream. The entire module was so much fun and I learned so much. We got to watch freaking season 5 doctor who in class, like, thats amazing. Those are the kinds of things i like, not reproducing Salvador Dali, just learning, gaining appreciation for thing. That module got me into Van Gogh, Salvidor Dali, Andy Worhall,Monet,etc. I had monet paintings on my walls from then until this september and still to this day just love it all. We also went and did computer games and all that other cool stuff
ReplyDeleteI also love , the hands on, and digital learning, like we do in this class. I overall find all these cool different waysof learning amazing and they really help me. Back to the artist module example, if we learnt it in a boring way, where we sat and listened to lectures and wrote , i 1.would not have passed (and i was in the top 5 in both classes) 2. I would not have developed interests that, my love for. Like stars. Van Gogh had an effect on my love for them. The first time I really looked at the stars and understood, was when I was in PEI staying at a little cottage right in front of a potato farm. I would not have gone out and sat in the backyard/potato field (?)if I hadn't had an insterest because of Van Gogh's Starry Night. When little things like that can impact me in a bigger way in the future and make think and appreciate, now those are the best.
I really enjoyed my past teachers, they made it fun to learn. I really liked one project in science class where my partner and I had to make a shoe out of many rolled up papers and glue it at the end. My partner and I were very creative and we wanted ours to be very well put together so we used an old black shirt and painted purple and blue flowers on it and glued the shirt on the shoe. I think teachers should not be giving as much homework because students should have free time and have time to do after school activities to not feel stressed about school. Also, homework wastes a lot of paper so it should either be on technology or not too much.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite teacher was my grade 5 teacher. She would always make class so enjoyable and exciting. She would find different ways to keep us intrigued the subject. I think all teachers should be like her because class sometimes could get very boring. A project she once made us do was a exploding water melon project. We had to wrap elastics around a water melon till it exploded. That was pretty fun. Instead of teacher giving us book reports we should find different projects that's us students will actually be interested in
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