Two Characteristics of My Most Effective Teacher

During my Senior year of high school I had a teacher named Mr. O'Malley. He was a history teacher, but I took his Public Issues Forum class as an elective. The format of the class itself was unique in that there was a lot of freedom in the class curriculum. We were not preparing for standardized tests, and luckily Mr. O'Malley did not have specific guidelines as to what he was to cover during the course of the semester. Instead he was able to pick topics which were of interest to him, and also to interest to us students as well. I think Mr. O'Malley's greatest strength was that he followed his own interests.

Often teacher's can feel bogged down by being confined to teach a set curiculum. Even in Mr. O'Malley's regular classes however he made sure to incorporate issues which were of interest to him. We talked about social issues such as the School of the Americas (training camp for "terrorists" in the United States), sweat shops, and the importance of voting. They are all topics which he has felt passionately concerned about in his own life and he was able to better relay these subjects to us because of his strong sentiments. It is a rare occassion (at least in my high school academic experience) that students are able to openly discuss topics and debate their importance. This type of learning allows students to discuss critical thinking skills as opposed to using rote memorization methods often found in schools. Mr. O'Malley was genuinely interested in hearing the opinions of his students and although he surely had command of the classroom it still felt like an equal exchange of ideas and opinions. In expressing his own strong views he was able to bring out the views of his students.

Another strength Mr. O'Malley brought into the classroom was that he incorporated current issues and our community into the curriculum. There were many guests that came into speak to our class about a wide variety of topics. There was a women who spoke about having a shared bedroom where her entire family slept together, and there was also the national high school storytelling champion. I actually went to speak to his public issues forum class this year about the importance of young people voting. For me it was a great opportunity to thank him for cultivating a new way of thinking about learning as a young student. We went to see speakers and musical performances at URI and AS220 in Providence. By his unique teaching style we began to see the world as our classroom as opposed to just the hours we were confined to our school.

I hope that as a Spanish teacher I will be able to incorporate both of these aspects into my classroom. I have spent much time traveling in Latin America and I think sharing my passion for both the language and the culture will help to ignite interest in my students. Also, I want to make sure that I bring the community into my class and my class into the community. The Spanish language is not brought to life for most people until they are able to experience it in some authentic way. With Latin culture so present in our community there are many opportunities to make connections between students and Spanish language outside of school.