A great teacher of mine once said, “A good essay is like a girl’s skirt: long enough to cover the topic, but short enough to keep me interested.”
You can see why I liked my world history class in high school so much. My teacher just got it. We laughed and learned and learned and laughed all day long.
Personally, I always look for certain qualities in a great teacher:
Nice.
Funny.
Patient.
Personable.
Fair.
Understanding.
I can think of no greater quality for a teacher to have than understanding. It makes it so much easier to like a class and the teacher when you have someone who understands in and out of the classroom.
I am a college student, but I get my school spirit on at football games. I play my heart out in Ultimate Frisbee at the Drill Field sometimes. I occasionally guest write for the newspaper. And I have classes, too.
After thinking of all of these things that stand in the way of liking a teacher, I remind myself that I am in college to go to class. I am not in college to get a good job; I am in college to get a good career. But I want to have fun while I am working hard.
I need a teacher that understands what I am going through; I need someone relatable.
I want a teacher that will learn my name and remember it even after I am gone, and I want a teacher that I’ll remember. A teacher that teaches me something that will stick with me throughout my college experience and maybe even my life.
I have had some great teachers over the years. My high school English teacher junior year was my favorite. She taught, she assigned homework, she assigned projects, she assigned papers—but none of that mattered. I was eager to learn in that classroom and I still remember analyzing things like “Beowulf.” She just got it. And since I’ve graduated we have hung out all the time.
I believe I speak for a lot of students when I say that a teacher makes all the difference in whether or not I like the course. If I cannot understand what one of my teachers is saying, I am not going to enjoy sitting there and listening to him or her for the entire 50 minutes.
A good teacher, if I am taking a course I already do not understand, will make it easier for me to understand. He or she will say it in a language that I can process.
A great teacher will also inspire me. A teacher could influence me to become a better student or a better person. It is a lot of pressure to put on one’s shoulders, but my teacher could very well inspire me to pursue a certain career just because their class “spoke” to me. Then again, they could also inspire me to change it. No pressure, teachers.
I accept the fact that no teacher is perfect, and some of them have likability that goes up and down. One thing is true: having class on a game day, huge mistake.
Still, I think the most important quality that a teacher can have is understanding in the classroom and out of it. It makes it so much easier when you have a teacher that shares the same major as you, or maybe even the same university.
Brent Evans, an economics teacher here and alum of Mississippi State University, took the field at the Memphis game after he won the opportunity to participate in the Punt, Pass and Kick Contest for Little Caesar’s. He gets it.
I need a teacher who will teach me so I’ll understand. But they need to understand something, too. I am not just a student. I am a Bulldog.
Becca Horton is a freshman majoring in communication. She can be contacted at [email protected].