Paper #2 Rough Draft

What makes a good Teacher?

There are two different types of teachers- ones that we don’t get much out of  besides the curriculum they are teaching which more often than not is boring, therefore students don’t pay attention half the time and hardly learn anything. Then there are the teachers who truly have an impact on our lives and will never be forgotten. Teaching is not an easy job- but just like any other job it is what you put into it. As a teacher you are an adult influence on your students’ lives, and in some cases you’re the only adult influence in their lives. Mr. Keating and Ms. Gruwell are two perfect examples of teachers who put everything they possibly can into teaching.  . They are both very passionate teachers who truly care about their students and getting the most out of their education as possible. Teaching to them- is also building a relationship with their students and not just going by the curriculum hoping it works. They go the extra mile with their students- which make them amazing teachers.

Having a passionate attitude is not something that can be faked- You cannot make someone want to learn something or interested in something, if you the teacher yourself care less about the topic. Mr. Keating and Ms. Gruwell both showed passion in their classrooms in their own unique way. Mr. Keating went out of his way to explain poetry to his students not just by reading the book from front to back, but doing many different learning activities which could help his students relate more to understand. Mr. Keating not only taught his students an understanding of poetry- he taught them that they should walk their own walk, and never just adjust to what everyone believes is normal or right. He taught them to look at everything in life not just from one perspective. When he had them stand on the desk of the classroom and said “the room looks a lot different from that perspective”. He showed them that life can look a lot different to when you change your perspective on it. Mr. Keating was a man who looked at the glass half full in life- which is one of the reasons he had such a huge impact on those boys’ lives; no one had ever given them so much hope. Ms. Gruwell did not have it as easy as Mr. Keating did in the beginning with her students. Her students did not trust her or accept her-they shut her out because they had never been given a chance by any adult in their lives before. She was disrespected by both her students and then later on her faculty as well. But she never gave up on her kids she adapted to her situation and made the absolute most of it. Ms. Gruwell went out of her way to teach her own style as well, because she truly believed she could help her students; when no other teacher in that school would give them a chance. She gave them journals to right their story in, and told them that she would read them if they wanted her to. And after the first night with the journals every single student had left them for her to read. This was the beginning of her break through with them. Mr. Keating and Ms. Gruwell let their passion do the teaching not a textbook; it is teachers like that who kids are lucky to have.

To be good at anything in life we have to strive and be dedicated- dedication means you can try and fail but you continue to try until you succeed. Mr. Keating and Ms. Gruwell were both dedicated to their teaching job-to the point where is cost those things they loved, and practically everything. In Ms. Gruwell’s case she lost her husband, because he couldn’t handle how much she put into her kids and how little she began to put into him. Ms. Gruwell did not stop paying attention to her husband intentionally-she just did everything she could for her students which slowly began to be more important than her husband was to her. She got two other jobs to help pay for her teaching job because the school would not help her with her class, because even they had no hope for them. Ms. Gruwell went to the library to rent them the book Ann Frank- she was told no because her kids didn’t deserve the chance to read that book nor could be trusted to keep it in good condition. Instead of taking no for an answer she got those two jobs to get the kids books, because it was important for them to learn about Ann Frank. She went out of her way to pay for a field trip for them and take them to dinner. No one had ever done anything like that for those kids. Mr. Keating lost his job in the end- because his teaching style was not accepted and he was blamed for a death of a student. And even though he lost his job he had the biggest impact on those boys and taught them things no one could have ever taught them. Mr. Keating could relate to his students which is another reason he was such a good teacher for them. He had been in their shoes not too long ago-therefore he knew how those boys felt, and knew they needed a positive influence. Mr. Keating was so different from his other staff; because he believed that everyone is meant to choose their own path in life- and that is it not our parents’ choice. And that is what he taught those boys, which is what cost him his job sadly. Both teachers were dedicated to their students’ education, and teaching them there is a chance at a life where they could be their own person without fear.

Teenagers are not the easiest people to win over- in fact they have to be the hardest people to get through to. What gets their attention though is being outgoing. Mr. Keating and Ms. Gruwell were both very outgoing teachers. They went above and beyond because they wanted to, not because they felt bad or they needed to. In the beginning of Mr. Keating’s school year he had the boys open up to the introduction of their text book, it was explaining poetry on a scale from 1 to 10 and what made poetry good and bad. He then had everyone rip the whole introduction out because poetry was not math; it was not meant to scale nor was there such thing as bad poetry. Poetry was made to be beautiful. But that was not the only reason he had them rip out the pages, he did not want them to think it was okay to put life on a scale and believe that one thing was better than another just because some doctor said it was. Mr. Keating also introduced the boys to ‘The Dead Poets Society’. He did not give it to the boys to be rebellious, he gave it to them because they were interested and they needed something that was theirs. It was exciting for them and it was another way for him to teach them that they were meant to choose their own path and careers. Ms. Gruwell was outgoing by giving her students things they could never dream of. After teaching her kids about the Holocaust and after reading Ann Frank; she let them write letters to the women who helped hide Ann Frank during the Holocaust. She than helped her students hold a fundraiser to fly that woman to their school- just so she could speak her stories. Ms. Gruwell never gave up on her students no matter what trouble she had to go through.

Mr. Keating and Ms. Gruwell were both very similar but different at the same time. They were the type of people who is born to be a teacher. They sacrificed everything to make a difference in their students’ lives. And they did it because it was important to them, and important to their students. They put themselves last so they could put them first. It is not every day we come across people that are like that. Everyone can go to school to be a teacher, but not everyone can be a good teacher. Being a good teacher is a gift- you either have it in you or you don’t.