Paper 2

            Two of my most cherished high school teachers, Mr. Burchill and Mr. Wilson, are both very incredible men that I was so thankful to have in my life, but were two very different people. Though they were both positive role models in my life, they did it in their own unique ways. Obviously these differences are due to their opposing demeanor and style of teaching. Being a teacher is greatly affected by who you are and the life you have led, but at the end of the day you have a purpose. You are there to prepare students for the rest of their lives because not all children have a person to play that role. A quote by Charles Platt captures that perfectly, "Compassionate teachers fill a void left by working parents who aren't able to devote enough attention to their children. Teachers don't just teach; they can be vital personalities who help young people to mature, to understand the world and to understand themselves. A good education consists of much more than useful facts and marketable skills."       Truly, the most ideal role a teacher can play for his student is that of a coach, whether it be life coach or a school coach, Mr. Burchill and Mr. Wilson embody that role.
            Demeanor plays a huge role in first impressions with a teacher and its consistency is equally important. A teacher that day in and day out comes to work and is the same person is going to hit home with students more. If they continuously come to work every day offering the same attitude to you then you are going to offer the same to them. Mr. Burchill did just that. He came to work every morning and he smiled, gleamed, and showed he wanted to be there. I can vividly remember his  big, goofy grin. In turn, his students wanted to do the same for him. I showed up everyday with a good attitude and ready to learn because he did the same. Mr. Burchill could be a silly man, but when it was crunch time, the classroom was no nonsense. Education was held in the highest regard in Burchill's class. Mr. Wilson may not have shown the same enthusiasm, but he showed his appreciation that you were there. As he went through roll, he would always thank all of us for showing up. He would always refer to himself as the “Almighty One” or “His Majesty”, something to that effect. A lot like John Keating's quote in Dead Poets Society, “O Captain, my Captain. Who knows where that comes from? Anybody? Not a clue? It's from a poem by Walt Whitman about Mr. Abraham Lincoln. Now in this class you can either call me Mr. Keating, or if you're slightly more daring, O Captain my Captain.”  It was in good fun and showed to us that he enjoyed being there. He would take a rooted interest your future and he would talk to you about it after class. It wasn't just a few times it was weekly and he always remembered what you had said. It wasn't like he was just on auto-pilot for your conversations. He was a genuine man that genuinely cared about each and every one of his students. We all cared about him in return, especially about what he was teaching. Mr. Wilson, as a history teacher, valued our education on the past, but at the same time wanted to fortify our futures. Their attitude positively affected everyone in their classroom. Which resulted in their students acting similar to that of the teachers which benefited the classroom environment and effectiveness of lessons.

            Effectiveness and styling of teaching is a large idea of what defines a teacher. Burchill is a complex man and his style of teaching reflected that. He kept you on your path. All the students that did not want to learn, he would make them want to learn. No disrespect or defiance was taken sitting down. Burchill had a way of injecting the will to learn into your veins. When he spoke to you in a way that made you rise to the occasion. Just as Mr. Escalante said, “Students will rise to the level of expectation.” Burchill did just that. He sped up courses and squeezed everything into a day that he could. If you needed help after class you bet you would be seeing him there as late as possible every day. Burchill had a knack for drawing out every ounce of potential out of his students.  At the same time, Burchill respected how each of his students learned. Wilson was carving out your future with you and helping you connect the dots. He valued his curriculum and he valued the well being of his students. As Freire stated in The Banking Concept of Education, “... it turns them into “containers”, into “receptacles” to be “filled” by the teacher.” [1] We were not seen in this fashion by Mr. Wilson. He valued our individuality and played to that with his teachings. Always using important tidbits that were interesting to us to lead into his lessons. Wilson would crack jokes about what he was reading during his teachings. The man had an great overall style of teaching that perfectly captured who he was. Teaching to him was meant to be fun and the way he did it reflected that. To him, time spent in the classroom was meant to be full of positive memories. They may have varying teaching styles but they were both effective in their own special way, whether it be in benefiting education or life.

            Though Mr. Burchill and Mr. Wilson have a different approach to teaching, the underlying effects from both of them are positive. They both care about the future of their students whether it be academics or personal life. In their classrooms the students were pushed to the boundaries in school and self discovery. Mr. Burchill had a more fierce and aggressive approach to teaching, whereas Wilson had a gentle and caring stance. These styles made them great teachers in their respective ways and any student would be honored to have sat in their presence. Great minds like theirs are what help mold us, the future generation. They fulfill the criteria set in an article by Carol Tomlinson, “The good teacher communicates a deep regard for students' lives, a regard infused with unblinking attention, respect, even awe. An engaged teacher begins with the belief that each student is unique, each the one and only who will ever trod the earth, each worthy of a certain reverence. Regard extends, importantly, to an insistence that students have access to the tools with which to negotiate and transform the world.” The role of coach is perfectly portrayed by these magnificent teachers.