Some days, I am met by carefully planned lectures from some of the most diligent teachers at Diamond Bar High School. Nothing is better than these meticulously prepared lesson plans full of vaguely related movies, intimate details of their personal lives and other invaluable information.
My favorite part of school is arriving to class to learn that the teacher has set up an informational movie that has a slight correlation to the upcoming chapter test. While some teachers present detailed lectures and worksheets for their class, more dedicated teachers understand the best way for students to learn is to take advantage of class time by using videos and fictional movies to teach us about a variety of topics not limited to the subject I thought I was signing up for.
These experienced teachers often have master’s degrees, so they obviously understand what is best for students. Instead of wasting time creating new lesson plans or new tests every year to have material tailored to their lessons, they use that time thinking of their favorite vacation or family story to share with the class.
We fortunate students can hear about the wonderful trips they took during their summer or winter break and, if we’re lucky, they might even tell us what their favorite brands of shoes are (and where they found the best deal for them). How could students complain? These teachers are trained professionals, and therefore they must know best.
While this casual discussion may anger some students who claim that these teachers don’t deserve our parents’ hard earned taxpayer dollars, I know better. These students aren’t appreciating the opportunity to learn the entire curriculum on their own. They should be taking advantage of this situation by fostering their research skills or even finding the best deals on Amazon for Barron’s prep books.
After all, these are the same teachers that continuously tell us that college professors teach the same exact way they do, and with their extensive college experience, it’d be foolish to not believe them.
To all the less efficient and effective teachers who don’t teach in this manner, I highly encourage you to spend the entire period describing to the class about your thrilling plans for spring break or what your child ate for breakfast. You also tend to go out of your way to do unnecessary things, such as help students learn about information related to the textbook and syllabus, which is silly. This all detracts from the time students could be hearing about your personal life, or watching episodes of your favorite TV shows.
It’s important for us to recognize the hard work some of our teachers are doing every day. Instead of constantly complaining about the “lack” of information offered during class, students should embrace learning about their important life events and daily routines. After all, school isn’t for learning, it’s for socializing with professionals specialized in nurturing the future generation.