We have all had our fair share of teachers throughout our school careers, who have either exceeded or failed to meet our expectations and hopes as students. As I reflect on my past struggles with education and those saddled with the task of educating me, a few faces and names pop into my head. I am not here to point fingers, but what I have learned from these people goes beyond mathematical equations and sentence structure. They have taught me what to appreciate a teacher for, when to show gratitude and when to run to the registrar’s office and get myself into a different class.
Because I think it will be amusing, I’d like to start with qualities that a college professor, or any educator for that matter, should not strive to emulate.
A poor professor is someone who pulls test questions from a resource other than the textbook or website the class has been studying all semester.
Nothing makes me tense up more than sitting down to take a test and seeing a jumble of unfamiliar words or numbers in the form of a question. It almost makes me wonder if I’ve come to the right class.
I think it’s only fair to prepare the students for questions that will appear on a test. Granted, sometimes surprise extra credit questions can be kind of fun, but at least three out of four questions on the test should be familiar.
A poor professor’s spelling and punctuation are just as sloppy as the students’.
Not to announce myself as the grammar police, but grammar was pounded into me at a young age, so I have always been that kid who corrects the teacher’s spelling. I think a professor who teaches MLA format should provide perfect examples of spelling and punctuation when they write a sentence out on the whiteboard.
A poor professor doesn’t specify which is appropriate: Dr., Mr., Mrs., Ms., Professor, etc.
Now when I show up to class, I end up awkwardly mumbling my professor’s last name until he turns my way, or just clearing my throat or raising my hand until I get his attention. Although I have been provided with his full name, he never specified what he prefers to be called and I feel it would make my life even more awkward if I called out his first name in class.
I don’t want anyone to think I spend my days complaining about my teachers. I love teachers. I think they are the superheroes of today. So here is a list of qualities I wish every educator possessed.
A good professor never rushes through the material.
The best math professor I ever had knew how to break a chapter into four days of fifty-minute sections. Sure, it was still boring and difficult work, but he took things slow enough that I had time to ask questions and never got overwhelmed.
A good professor posts grades on D2L in a timely manner.
I hate waiting until we are well into the next chapter to learn whether I got an A or an F on the last test. To be honest, I don’t know how some teachers do it. They can grade all those tests and papers and get me my grade by the weekend. I’m not asking to see my grade the next day, I just don’t want to forget that we had a test.
A good professor makes him or herself available to answer questions inside and outside of class.
It’s comforting to know that my professor is not in a rush. I like knowing that they will be willing to sit down with me if I need it and explain something I don’t understand. The best professors are not judged by their students’ test scores, but by how much they love their job, and it shows.
