Sometimes our toughest teachers prepare us the best

By Wesley Fryer On February 15, 2011 · · 1 Comment

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The first week of class with my undergraduate “Technology 4 Teachers” students I ask them to share an initial blog post about their professional goals and one of their past teachers who strongly influenced their decision to enter the education profession. This was a paragraph shared by one of my UCO students this year. It reminds me that high expectations can sometimes be rare in high school, but the teachers with the high expectations are often the ones we remember the most because they helped us grow and stretch further than others did.

I had two teachers that really impacted my educational experience. One was my ninth grade history teacher, Mr. Gibson. Everyone hated him and thought his class was too tough for freshman. It was really tough at the time but looking back at it he really prepared us for college. No other teachers prepared me like he did. Every test was an essay test and we only had 55 minutes to complete it. It was challenging, but it definitely prepared me for high school and college. Another was Mr. Burton, my history teacher for sophomore and junior year. Again, no one really liked him because his class was tough, but he prepared me for college. These two teachers are the most memorable to me.

Are you stretching your own students to work harder than they thought they could, and become more than the “average” teacher expects them to be? High expectations are vital. Even when they don’t make you popular.

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On this day..

Jacob Gonyea

This article rings so true with high expectations expected by some teachers. I currently teach middle school and have heard many comments of how mean I can be, but also how much the students actually learn from me. I personally believe students learn more from teachers they relate to and that pique their interest.