Teachers

For most of us, we probably have met dozens of teachers before our formal education ends. School subject teachers, lecturers, CCA teachers in charge, CCA instructors, and when i took up other activities outside school, violin teachers, art teachers, swimming instructors, and when i was young, my ballet teachers. they are people you will definitely meet along in your life, people who will guide you, impart knowledge and supposedly help you become a better person in general.

However, although there are some incredibly good and passionate teachers, there are others who are you know... not as good. like those who unintentionally put you to sleep, those who are overly strict, and others who feel that they know much better than you and refuse to listen to your questions or opinions. For me, i would consider myself extremely lucky as i have met many many more amazing teachers than those who are not as capable.

Lets take for example, one of my current Literature teachers, who is just so respected by all students and staff alike. he is in fact such a good lecturer that he gets a round of applause after every lecture he gives (and i am not kidding about this), and every time we know its time for him to lecture, everyone is always looking forward to it. in tutorials, he just comes into class with his lit text. but when the lesson starts, he is able to facilitate discussions, give suggestions and impart knowledge so well that we learn so much every lesson. and when he does that, the class just goes 'OH MY GOODNESS...' * mind-blown* and sometimes we just hope that he can just teach us every subject or something.

Then there was another teacher, literature teacher as well, who is just incredibly talented, and sometimes we wonder how someone can be so extremely all rounded. She is a graduate from oxford university, can sing really well, was an ex-national Frisbee player and used to be the valedictorian of our school. to top it off, she is really good-looking. enough said. this just makes everyone jealous.

there are others who are so knowledgeable and have such good memory. history teachers in particular. i have met a few teachers who can just recite dates, names, events, policies etc etc just off the cuff when you ask them. this is something that we students definitely need. i mean, i try to memorize stuff for one chapter, i remember it, i move on to another chapter, then i forget the previous chapter. Nice.

the most popular teachers, of course, are those who are caring, understanding, and can connect well with the students. i had a math teacher in secondary school who never gave up on me despite my extreme lack of ability in the subject. she 'came after' me every day and forced me to do so many practices. and, i eventually improved so much and got an A in the end. there are also others, who have constantly told me not to give up when i scored so badly. for instance, for mid years in JC1, i got 23% for math, 27% for economics and 45% for history. i kind of surpassed and set a new record for myself - never in my life have i seen such horrible grades. but there were teachers who encouraged me and motivated me, and in the end i improved so much. i dropped math to H1, and got an A, and for econs, i improved to 58%.

but there are others, who, to put bluntly, according to students, are rather horrible. teachers who do not get anything done during lessons, teachers who lose your work, teachers who just cannot explain the concepts in a comprehensible manner, and teachers whom students just block out. however, i would like to emphasize that these teachers are the minority, and rather than criticizing the black sheep, i would rather spend my efforts in complimenting and thanking those who have changed my life in one way or another.