Some teachers are more qualified to teach than others, as you’ve probably already noticed. In one class you might have a teacher whom you really connect to, and who explains the concepts in ways that you really understand.
Of course, in the same day you might also have a teacher who you never can seem to understand! Whether it’s an accent that is too thick, or an aggravating way of explaining difficult concepts.
One teacher of mine is very difficult to understand. Her accent wouldn’t really be that much of a problem if she actually used the microphone system set up for students in the back of the room to hear her.
On top of this, she uses the computer to scribble all over her PowerPoint slides, that has no apparent purpose. This wouldn’t be a terrible thing, as the class has an unspoken rule of dead silence so that students in the back of the room might have a fighting chance of hearing the teacher speak.
Even with being able to barely make out the lecture, it’s her way of explaining concepts that really has my head spinning. She’ll go five miles in a hypothetical circle before getting to her point, and by that time I’ve either gotten a headache or have fallen asleep.
Of course in contrast there are those teachers that you can’t bear the thought of leaving at the end of the semester. I have two teachers that are like this and I enjoy both classes equally, even though they are extremely challenging.
One teacher, although he goes on long anecdotes about his home life, and his experiences outside of the classroom, his stories always relate to the concept at hand.
Using this technique makes the concept more accessible and easier to understand when applied to my own life. The other teacher I adore gives her lectures in such a way that you can’t stop paying attention to the day’s topic. Her PowerPoints are concise, and if you take notes on them, you can recall the concepts without straining your hands.
She applies the class to real life and encourages her students to think and participate. Even on movie days where we watch a film instead of pay attention to lecture, nearly every eye is wide-open and paying attention.
How can you discover which of these teachers will be yours for next semester? There are sites and applications. You can find one on Facebook, known as ‘rate your professor.’
These sites make it easy to discover the opinions of students who’ve taken the class before you, and might make your next semester of classes easier to bear. So please, rate your professor at the end of your class, and share your experiences with the next round of students to come.
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