The Fine Art of Teaching

Teaching is hard.

I've tried my hand at it. Despite knowing many teachers (and having a few in the family tree), I lack the gift. In my case, it's both a lack of patience and an inability to articulate concepts to people in any clear fashion.

I find that hysterically-funny given that I have turned around and become a writer, but that's outside of the scope of my little rant here.

It's difficult to be a good teacher. To teach, one has to be articulate, to be able to communicate concepts clearly, be patient, to inspire students to strive and improve, and know your subject matter. It helps to be funny.

Good teachers are a rare breed.

There are, alas, no shortage of bad teachers in the world. I've had one martial arts instructor who was a pleasant enough fellow outside of class. Put him in front of a group of students and suddenly Mr. Hyde made an appearance. He was unable to articulate what he wanted the class to do. He mixed-up his instructions ("left" when he meant "right") and got angry when students couldn't read his mind.

It got to the point that I just avoided going to classes when I knew he was scheduled to teach. It was that or lose my own frayed temper and that's never a wise move in martial arts classes.

Recently I had a brush with another flavor of teacher. This one wasn't bad like the other I mentioned. This one was a mix. This instructor could communicate concepts very clearly but had a slight patience issue.

And that reflected in getting a little verbally abusive.

I'm not a fan of the "drill sergeant gym teacher" routine. My memory of all my P.E./gym instructors in jr. high school and high school was that they were all ranting lunatics who spent a lot of time yelling and belittling students instead of explaining things.

This instructor took pages from that book. The capper was ending a class insisting that the students should feel ashamed for failing to give less than 110%.

Clearly math is another issue here.

I get feeling disappointed that students aren't doing what you expect. That's part of the teaching and learning process. I don't get the belittling.

I guess it takes all kinds.