rough
Rough Draft by Sara Tezel
Throughout my education, I have had the privilege of achieving a strong background in English. My love for English started at a young age because my mother, a reading teacher, always encouraged me to write, read, and think creatively. For the most part, all my teachers have done the same.
In our lives, there are teachers who make us love learning, and there are teachers who make us hate it. There are teachers who encourage and support, and those who bottle and condemn. Some students are continually placed into classrooms where their educater "annul[s] the students' creative power (258)." I have been blessed with teachers who have challenged me to think creatively and critically. There was one teacher who made me decide I want a future in English and she managed to do it in just one afternoon.
Mrs. Wacker of Red River High School was the teacher students dreaded. She was often referred to as a grammar nazi and her name, pronounced Walker, was purposely butchered to put her down. Students did this bravely behind her back.
I was a freshman when I was randomly placed in Mrs. Wacker’s classroom. Having very little grammar experience, I suffered and received my first B in English. I felt lucky to score a ‘C’ on a test because my test score were usually lower. It was this woman, the one who challenged me and made me begin to despise English, that added fire to my love for the subject.
Papers in Mrs. Wacker’s class were expected to be perfect. She would write times on the board for when she was available to correct and critique and if you didn’t sign up for one, you could count yourself lucky to receive a ‘B.’
The topic of my paper was O. Henry and his short stories. Surprised with how interesting he was, I became drawn into my paper. When my time arrived to meet with Mrs. Wacker, my eyes widened with horror as her pencil corrected one grammatical mistake after another. I was near tears. The person after me didn’t show up for his time, so she kept on attacking my paper. I waited for the next person to walk in and Mrs. Wacker to excuse me and my beaten down essay, but that didn’t happen.
Mrs. Wacker had always been so busy keeping to her schedule that a person would often be dismissed without an explanation of his or her mistakes. Luckily for me, the last three people of the day didn’t show up for their appointment.
After she finished marking up my paper, we went over my mistakes and I learned from them. We discussed grammar, O. Henry, and English in everyday life, for the next half hour. Mrs. Wacker had suddenly become human, her rules made sense, and I left with my love of English returned and strengthened.
Mrs. Wacker did something that no other English teacher had ever done. She challenged me. She forced me to confront my fear of grammar and make mistakes. By being forced to make mistakes, I was forced to learn from them too.
The “banking” concept of education can take many forms. To an outsider it would have appeared that Mrs. Wacker was just trying to force me to conform to an idea and a set of principles. And in the beginning she was. Until a free moment arrived, "instead of communicating, the teacher [Mrs. Wacker] issues communiques and makes deposits which the students [my classmates and myself] patiently receive, memorize, and repeat (257)." Mrs. Wacker was a rare teacher though; she realized you have to know the rules to break them.
Paulo Freire said “problem-posing education affirms men and women as beings in the process of becoming-as unfinished, uncompleted beings…(265).” What he meant is that one can never be done learning. There is always new information out there and in order to practice problem-posing education, you have to realize that you are incomplete and need assistance.
Anyone can become a teacher. Unless these people have a passion for teaching and learning, they "do not realize that they are serving only to dehumanize (259)." Banking is easy. It does not take talent or passion to stand up in front of a room and "[talk] about reality as if it were motionless, static, compartmentalized, and predictable (257)." True teachers, no, true educators, realize that "knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention (257)."
Freire said "They become jointly responsible for a process in which all grow (262)." What he means is that it is not only the job of the student to learn, but the job of the teacher as well. To open up is to teach, and to teach is to share. Only by sharing can one be expected to learn.
Throughout my education, I have had the privilege of achieving a strong background in English. My love for English started at a young age because my mother, a reading teacher, always encouraged me to write, read, and think creatively. For the most part, all my teachers have done the same.
In our lives, there are teachers who make us love learning, and there are teachers who make us hate it. There are teachers who encourage and support, and those who bottle and condemn. Some students are continually placed into classrooms where their educater "annul[s] the students' creative power (258)." I have been blessed with teachers who have challenged me to think creatively and critically. There was one teacher who made me decide I want a future in English and she managed to do it in just one afternoon.
Mrs. Wacker of Red River High School was the teacher students dreaded. She was often referred to as a grammar nazi and her name, pronounced Walker, was purposely butchered to put her down. Students did this bravely behind her back.
I was a freshman when I was randomly placed in Mrs. Wacker’s classroom. Having very little grammar experience, I suffered and received my first B in English. I felt lucky to score a ‘C’ on a test because my test score were usually lower. It was this woman, the one who challenged me and made me begin to despise English, that added fire to my love for the subject.
Papers in Mrs. Wacker’s class were expected to be perfect. She would write times on the board for when she was available to correct and critique and if you didn’t sign up for one, you could count yourself lucky to receive a ‘B.’
The topic of my paper was O. Henry and his short stories. Surprised with how interesting he was, I became drawn into my paper. When my time arrived to meet with Mrs. Wacker, my eyes widened with horror as her pencil corrected one grammatical mistake after another. I was near tears. The person after me didn’t show up for his time, so she kept on attacking my paper. I waited for the next person to walk in and Mrs. Wacker to excuse me and my beaten down essay, but that didn’t happen.
Mrs. Wacker had always been so busy keeping to her schedule that a person would often be dismissed without an explanation of his or her mistakes. Luckily for me, the last three people of the day didn’t show up for their appointment.
After she finished marking up my paper, we went over my mistakes and I learned from them. We discussed grammar, O. Henry, and English in everyday life, for the next half hour. Mrs. Wacker had suddenly become human, her rules made sense, and I left with my love of English returned and strengthened.
Mrs. Wacker did something that no other English teacher had ever done. She challenged me. She forced me to confront my fear of grammar and make mistakes. By being forced to make mistakes, I was forced to learn from them too.
The “banking” concept of education can take many forms. To an outsider it would have appeared that Mrs. Wacker was just trying to force me to conform to an idea and a set of principles. And in the beginning she was. Until a free moment arrived, "instead of communicating, the teacher [Mrs. Wacker] issues communiques and makes deposits which the students [my classmates and myself] patiently receive, memorize, and repeat (257)." Mrs. Wacker was a rare teacher though; she realized you have to know the rules to break them.
Paulo Freire said “problem-posing education affirms men and women as beings in the process of becoming-as unfinished, uncompleted beings…(265).” What he meant is that one can never be done learning. There is always new information out there and in order to practice problem-posing education, you have to realize that you are incomplete and need assistance.
Anyone can become a teacher. Unless these people have a passion for teaching and learning, they "do not realize that they are serving only to dehumanize (259)." Banking is easy. It does not take talent or passion to stand up in front of a room and "[talk] about reality as if it were motionless, static, compartmentalized, and predictable (257)." True teachers, no, true educators, realize that "knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention (257)."
Freire said "They become jointly responsible for a process in which all grow (262)." What he means is that it is not only the job of the student to learn, but the job of the teacher as well. To open up is to teach, and to teach is to share. Only by sharing can one be expected to learn.
posted by Stezie @ 9:44 PM
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