(no subject)
I gave my students a multiple choice pop quiz, and as a joke the last question was:
Paul’s best quality as a teacher is:
A: He has read a lot of books
B: He lets us turn in essays late
C: his professional appearance
D: His ten years of prior experience
E: _____________________
I added “c” because I’m the only teacher or administrator in the entire company who wears a tie. It’s been that way at every job I’ve had for the last eight years.
Some of my favorite answers were “he has us as his students,” “he’s like a TV show we don’t have to pay for,” and “he knows ‘live long and prosper’,” but the answer that bugged me a little was when some students wrote “he likes AP 2 more than AP1.” AP 1 and AP 2 students are taking all the same courses, but as classes have different personalities. AP 1 kids are traditional Chinese students, quiet and hardworking. The AP 2 kids work hard, too, but are, in the word of one of the science teachers, “sassy.” Their main Chinese teacher has often cancelled their break times to make them do more memorization because their scores weren’t as high as the AP 1 class.
But the thing is, I’ve always found “sassy” students funny. Maybe I watched too many sit coms as a child, but as long as a student is clever about it, I don’t mind a little back talk. I don’t “like” AP 2 more than AP 1, but since the AP 2 students talk more in class, it makes me feel they are more engaged with the material and therefore I feel like a better teacher when I leave the class room.
And neither of us have been very good about keeping the test prep company I work for happy. I use their textbook and they say the class is too easy, I use the materials on the AP website, which they directed me to, and they say the class is too hard. I don’t think the managers quite grasp the idea that “AP” means teaching at the college level so you don’t have to take that class in college. For them it’s just another test.
Paul’s best quality as a teacher is:
A: He has read a lot of books
B: He lets us turn in essays late
C: his professional appearance
D: His ten years of prior experience
E: _____________________
I added “c” because I’m the only teacher or administrator in the entire company who wears a tie. It’s been that way at every job I’ve had for the last eight years.
Some of my favorite answers were “he has us as his students,” “he’s like a TV show we don’t have to pay for,” and “he knows ‘live long and prosper’,” but the answer that bugged me a little was when some students wrote “he likes AP 2 more than AP1.” AP 1 and AP 2 students are taking all the same courses, but as classes have different personalities. AP 1 kids are traditional Chinese students, quiet and hardworking. The AP 2 kids work hard, too, but are, in the word of one of the science teachers, “sassy.” Their main Chinese teacher has often cancelled their break times to make them do more memorization because their scores weren’t as high as the AP 1 class.
But the thing is, I’ve always found “sassy” students funny. Maybe I watched too many sit coms as a child, but as long as a student is clever about it, I don’t mind a little back talk. I don’t “like” AP 2 more than AP 1, but since the AP 2 students talk more in class, it makes me feel they are more engaged with the material and therefore I feel like a better teacher when I leave the class room.
And neither of us have been very good about keeping the test prep company I work for happy. I use their textbook and they say the class is too easy, I use the materials on the AP website, which they directed me to, and they say the class is too hard. I don’t think the managers quite grasp the idea that “AP” means teaching at the college level so you don’t have to take that class in college. For them it’s just another test.