English Lesson
Some people should not be teachers. My "Structure and Meaning of Words" professor is one of those people. She is not actually a professor, she is a Russian born graduate student, named Tatyana. I like her name, I like her voice and her proper, precise speech. She is pleasant and has long blonde hair. Tatyana, who asks us to call her by her first name because she is not a professor, knows a lot about the rules of English and the root structure of various languages, but she cannot teach. My mom, who has been a teacher for about thirty years for good reason, says that a teacher's job is to excite the students about learning. The teacher's job is to present the material in a way that those who do not naturally care about the material will take an interest in learning for themselves.
The inverse of this equation would be that a bad teacher is someone that makes you hate a subject you normally find interesting. This is the case with Tatyana. I signed up for this class, mostly to avoid a worse class and because the time fit in my schedule better, but I was excited about the subject of the class. I like studying languages and specifically the roots of language, where words stemmed from other languages or situations, the meaning behind our words and how they changed over time, the changes in pronunciation. Those are things I like to study on my own when I find an interesting word or name. I was looking forward to studying such information in the "Structure and Meaning of Words" class. Instead, this is my most infuriating and mind numbingly boring class.
Tatyana stands in front of the class behind her computer, back straight, facing the class with a straight face. The Power POint slides to her right are filled with information about phonological words, listemes, and language rules. All of the definitions and even the examples and tangents are taken straight from the chapter we read before coming to class. Not only are the slides redundant, but the teacher doesn't deviate from the slides. She reads each point word for word. No one is listening. Well, the girl with the long brown hair pulled up in a ponytail is listening. She is the only one to raise her hand when the teacher asks a question. I try to listen, but mostly I am not. I write about not listening instead.
I hear, "Gabrielle's father is an axe-murderer."
That sentence brings my head up in curiosity. Tatyana says the sentence again to demonstrate the structure of the English language. It is the most interesting thing she has said so far.
I am disappointed. I am disappointed because the teacher is so uncreative. Surely she could lecture without taking the exact phrases from the chapters. Surely she could move from behind the computer. Surely I could pay attention in a class that is all about a subject I enjoy outside of school. But, no, I am not interested. I wish my mom could give her lessons in teaching. Tatyana cannot teach.
My head lifts again when I hear Tatyana read a new sentence two different ways, "'He said,'Frankly, I do not want to go to class.' or you can say, 'Frankly,' he said, I do not want to go to class.'"
I raise my eyebrow and think to myself, "You and me both, kid. You and me, both!"
The inverse of this equation would be that a bad teacher is someone that makes you hate a subject you normally find interesting. This is the case with Tatyana. I signed up for this class, mostly to avoid a worse class and because the time fit in my schedule better, but I was excited about the subject of the class. I like studying languages and specifically the roots of language, where words stemmed from other languages or situations, the meaning behind our words and how they changed over time, the changes in pronunciation. Those are things I like to study on my own when I find an interesting word or name. I was looking forward to studying such information in the "Structure and Meaning of Words" class. Instead, this is my most infuriating and mind numbingly boring class.
Tatyana stands in front of the class behind her computer, back straight, facing the class with a straight face. The Power POint slides to her right are filled with information about phonological words, listemes, and language rules. All of the definitions and even the examples and tangents are taken straight from the chapter we read before coming to class. Not only are the slides redundant, but the teacher doesn't deviate from the slides. She reads each point word for word. No one is listening. Well, the girl with the long brown hair pulled up in a ponytail is listening. She is the only one to raise her hand when the teacher asks a question. I try to listen, but mostly I am not. I write about not listening instead.
I hear, "Gabrielle's father is an axe-murderer."
That sentence brings my head up in curiosity. Tatyana says the sentence again to demonstrate the structure of the English language. It is the most interesting thing she has said so far.
I am disappointed. I am disappointed because the teacher is so uncreative. Surely she could lecture without taking the exact phrases from the chapters. Surely she could move from behind the computer. Surely I could pay attention in a class that is all about a subject I enjoy outside of school. But, no, I am not interested. I wish my mom could give her lessons in teaching. Tatyana cannot teach.
My head lifts again when I hear Tatyana read a new sentence two different ways, "'He said,'Frankly, I do not want to go to class.' or you can say, 'Frankly,' he said, I do not want to go to class.'"
I raise my eyebrow and think to myself, "You and me both, kid. You and me, both!"
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