Comments on: A Good Teacher is Hard to Find http://telhajj.com/2007/12/08/a-good-teacher-is-hard-to-find/ (past imperfect) Tue, 27 Jul 2010 05:23:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Carter Jefferson http://telhajj.com/2007/12/08/a-good-teacher-is-hard-to-find/#comment-106 Carter Jefferson Fri, 28 Dec 2007 22:18:01 +0000 http://www.telhajj.com/index.php/2007/12/08/a-good-teacher-is-hard-to-find/#comment-106 Ask around--that's the only way. And then you'll still be disappointed sometimes. My best teachers have been the critters in the Internet Writing Workshop. Of course they vary, but some are very good indeed. Now, I'm a teacher myself, mostly teaching memoir, with a few students interested in fiction. My students say I'm good on the evaluations I get. I try to be. But I really have no clue about why I'm good, if I really am. Maybe all the rest of the teachers they have had have been terrible. :-) The only things I claim to know are grammar and punctuation, but those aren't what make me good, if I am. I think I know good writing when I see it. I think a teacher should be encouraging, and I am that. Otherwise, I'm just me. Carter Ask around–that’s the only way. And then you’ll still be disappointed sometimes. My best teachers have been the critters in the Internet Writing Workshop. Of course they vary, but some are very good indeed.

Now, I’m a teacher myself, mostly teaching memoir, with a few students interested in fiction. My students say I’m good on the evaluations I get. I try to be. But I really have no clue about why I’m good, if I really am. Maybe all the rest of the teachers they have had have been terrible. :-) The only things I claim to know are grammar and punctuation, but those aren’t what make me good, if I am. I think I know good writing when I see it. I think a teacher should be encouraging, and I am that. Otherwise, I’m just me.

Carter

]]> By: Tim Elhajj http://telhajj.com/2007/12/08/a-good-teacher-is-hard-to-find/#comment-105 Tim Elhajj Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:01:41 +0000 http://www.telhajj.com/index.php/2007/12/08/a-good-teacher-is-hard-to-find/#comment-105 I agree that good teachers lead students to discovering their own answers. I was trying to get at something like this when I said it's nigh impossible to teach someone to be a financially successful writer. If students end up with a little more self-confidence, the ability to analyze and enjoy the work they're able to create, then this is the result of a good teacher, a good classroom experience. But I’m not sure how any of this relates to my question about being able to select a good teacher. It seems like it’s all a big crap shoot, with no good way of telling what you’ll be getting when you sign up for a course. My time and cash are so limited these days (I’m sure most of us can relate), I really don't want to waste time in a class that’s not going to meet my needs. Besides the obvious metrics like class size and schedule, the ability of the teacher is the single most important factor in having a good classroom experience. So how do you find a good one? I agree that good teachers lead students to discovering their own answers. I was trying to get at something like this when I said it’s nigh impossible to teach someone to be a financially successful writer. If students end up with a little more self-confidence, the ability to analyze and enjoy the work they’re able to create, then this is the result of a good teacher, a good classroom experience.

But I’m not sure how any of this relates to my question about being able to select a good teacher. It seems like it’s all a big crap shoot, with no good way of telling what you’ll be getting when you sign up for a course. My time and cash are so limited these days (I’m sure most of us can relate), I really don’t want to waste time in a class that’s not going to meet my needs. Besides the obvious metrics like class size and schedule, the ability of the teacher is the single most important factor in having a good classroom experience. So how do you find a good one?

]]> By: Anonymous http://telhajj.com/2007/12/08/a-good-teacher-is-hard-to-find/#comment-104 Anonymous Sun, 16 Dec 2007 20:57:07 +0000 http://www.telhajj.com/index.php/2007/12/08/a-good-teacher-is-hard-to-find/#comment-104 Sounds like you answered your own question . . . which is also something a good teacher leads a student to do. Sounds like you answered your own question . . . which is also something a good teacher leads a student to do.

]]> By: sarah morgan http://telhajj.com/2007/12/08/a-good-teacher-is-hard-to-find/#comment-103 sarah morgan Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:26:25 +0000 http://www.telhajj.com/index.php/2007/12/08/a-good-teacher-is-hard-to-find/#comment-103 Nice post, Tim. I read that Brevity post as well. I once asked Barbara Abercrombie (writing teacher at UCLA and web site host of writingtime.com) the same question. She sent me to Mark Doty's book, Heaven's Coast, which I just reviewed for Internet Review of Books. He is a master of twining present and past tense in memoir. That was how I came to read the book in the first place, but once there I discovered a fabulous read. I recommend it. Which brings me to the point. I think our teachers are other writers. We have to read with learning the "craft" (forgive me Gary Presley) from other writers. Probably most writers are unaware of the "how" of how they do it. They just do it. Nice post, Tim. I read that Brevity post as well. I once asked Barbara Abercrombie (writing teacher at UCLA and web site host of writingtime.com) the same question. She sent me to Mark Doty’s book, Heaven’s Coast, which I just reviewed for Internet Review of Books. He is a master of twining present and past tense in memoir. That was how I came to read the book in the first place, but once there I discovered a fabulous read. I recommend it. Which brings me to the point. I think our teachers are other writers. We have to read with learning the “craft” (forgive me Gary Presley) from other writers. Probably most writers are unaware of the “how” of how they do it. They just do it.

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