A Class Act

History is a favorite subject of mine. Learning about the ways people lived long before my time fascinates me. I did not always feel this way though. The subject used to bore me. In fact, the only reason I would read my history texts was to cram the night before the test to score a decent grade. This all changed one day, when I walked into my new history class for the summer. Thinking back on the teachers I have had, this is the one who left an impression in my mind that will last forever.

I went to a private school all the way up to the eighth grade. Public school was so different. I had expected my freshman year to be more difficult than the eighth grade, but it was not. At first, I was elated that my homework time went from three hours a night to zero. But this led to a bigger problem for me. I focused on my social life, rather than my education. I skipped class because I figured I was not learning anything new anyhow. And then that led to skipping entire days at school. I inevitably got myself into trouble for that. But to me, it was of no consequence because I just did not enjoy school anymore. I would rather get into trouble than sit through another boring lecture. Because of my absences, I ended up in summer school though.

Being that I had to retake a course because I found it so boring the first time around, gave me absolutely no motivation. I no longer felt that anything I was going to learn in school was going to help me in the future. I just kept thinking about how I had to spend my summer break being stuck in one big, boring, history class all day. I would soon find out that this would not irk me the way I imagined.

To be honest, the moment I walked in, my teacher already gave the impression that he was different. He looked really laid-back, not like a teacher. I suppose the word for him would be unconventional. He spoke to us like we were people, rather than children. The students in my class, including myself, took this as a way to get an easy “A” in the class. This was a misconception though. He was not necessarily easy, because he was strict. He was not going to let anyone sleep through the class or not do any of the work.

I have had better teachers than others in the past, but this teacher was unlike any I have ever had. He taught us what we needed to learn, and then some. But what was so terrific about his method of teaching was that I did not feel like I was being taught. It was more like I was engaging in a conversation. The entire class was involved and we were having fun. When it was time to take a test, it was as if I did not feel like I even had to study. That was like a miracle to me.

I was involved and learned so much through all that discussion. My teacher made the material interesting. It really made me think about what we were learning, instead of just reading words out of a book. He was well prepared and knew what he was teaching us. The whole class interacted and had ideas about what we were talking about. Debates were going on, and that has never really happened in any of my classes before. My teacher added facts that were not found in the text, which made it more real. I have to say that I looked forward to my next class, which was rarely the issue with me.

All of this made me feel like teaching was so much more than delivering information. After this class, I feel like this knowledge stayed with me. I really felt like I learned something. Typically, through lecturing, the information I ingested was memorized to pass a test. After the test, it was like my mind threw the information out. Learning was boring and I did not leave class with much. I can look back and know that there are many classes where which I cannot remember a single thing I learned. That is terrible, in my opinion.

I am grateful to have had a class with my history teacher. History is one of my favorite subjects now. I even like to watch the History Channel on cable. My teacher has opened up my eyes to education. I want to teach children, not lecture them. Students need to not only learn, but also comprehend the material that is being taught. My history teacher changed me to believe that learning can be fun. He shared information with his pupils and we formed our own ideas. It is important to keep learning because we can then grow to be better people.

-- January Santana, Florida Atlantic University