Friday, September 21, 2007

Creative Writing Assignment

Manjeet Mahal
MAED 314A
September 21, 2007

The Best Teacher Ever, the Worst Teacher Ever

The other day I ran into Miss Mahal, my grade 9 math teacher, at the mall. It has been about four years since I have last seen her. She was the best teacher I ever had in high school. She was cool, hip, and fun to talk to. She could always relate to her students and she could always be trusted. Miss Mahal always kept the class under control and many of the students were very successful in her class. Miss Mahal explained everything she did so well and she always made sure that the students understood the topic. If the students needed extra help, Miss Mahal would make sure that they got that help: she would stay in at break, lunch, and even after school to make sure the students got the help that they needed. I can still remember many of the things that I learned in grade 9 math. This is very surprising because I forgot everything else that I learned in high school. Additionally, Miss Mahal made math class fun: we got to work in groups and even teach the class. During review periods we would either work in groups and do posters and present them to the class or we would work on a question and teach it to the class. These review periods helped me and many other students do very well on the tests in Miss Mahal’s class. Moreover, the exams she gave were not always easy – they involved a lot of thinking, but we learned a great deal more through these tests. Miss Mahal not only taught us math, she also taught us to be respectful, hardworking individuals. It was so nice to see Miss Mahal again. I really wish I had her for more than one year.

This morning I was walking down the street and I met my worst teacher ever – Miss Mahal. I wanted to turn around and walk the other way when I saw her, but she saw me first and started talking to me. I could not stand her. She did not know how to teach math at all. Whenever I asked questions she just made the problem more confusing for me. Also, her tests made no sense at all. She tried to make her tests include more higher-level thinking questions, but they were just confusing and they did not relate to what we learned in class or did for homework at all. Furthermore, she was always getting mad at me for talking in class, but what could I do – the class was so boring. As a result of the way Miss Mahal taught, I failed grade 10 math and had to do it in summer school. I am so glad that I only had her for one year.

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