# Teaching > General Teaching >  Students: Best English Teacher?

## Shannanigan

For all the students in these forums...have you had an English/Literature teacer that you felt did a really great job and that really had an affect on you? Any teachers that made you see literature differently? Tell us about your favorite literature/English teachers and what they did that was so great!

I personally didn't ave any exceptional English teachers until I moved here to the Caribbean and went to a private school. Well, there was one wonderful English teacher I had in California, but she was wonderful mostly because she helped me through a rough time in my life, not really for opening my eyes to literature. We read Frankenstien in her class and I hated it when I should have loved it...

anyway...the wonderful literature teacher that I had here in the Caribbean was actually the fiance of my writing teacher; he was replacing a literature teacher that hadn't been able to stand island living and had left. His way of discussing literature with minimal assignments and more open questioning in class made me see literature in a different, more interesting light. I thought it was great that I could look forward to his class every day instead of dreading it, because I knew that I would be able to speak freely about what I had read and focus on what I wanted to, and that he would point out things that I had missed. Our whole class loved him, and he discovered a love for teaching through us. I really think discussion is the key to great literature classes.

----------


## shinigami

Well, I'm 13, so.. I'm still a student- but as for who the best teacher is to my opinion. That would most definitely Ms. Gañgan- my 2nd, 3rd and 5th grade teacher...

She shone liked the sun and the inspiration of my life. I trear her as my mother as she treats me as her daughter... but enough of the bond we share. This is suppose to be the "BEST ENGLISH TEACHER" and I'll prove it to you.

She was never biased, she never spoke a word less of English [as we have a native language..], she gave rules and she herself, followed them, she never forced anyone to do anything bad or harmful, she always talked to us [well, especially me] in such a way that wasn't condescending nor belittling in any way. She is professional, yet she treats us all as individuals, not merely as students. She knows our strengths and our weaknesses and improves them/diminishes them. She does not command respect as a positional leader, but rather she gains it, as a real leader should. She wasn't the one who made me open my eyes to English, rather, she made me see what i didn't before [as my 1st grade teacher was the one who just got me on my feet to English, the language], she opened me to Literature, to Grammar, to impecable Speech, no faults, to Spelling[which I always go top 3 in any Spelling competition], she showed me, pointed me, led me to... who I was by interlacing them with the subject she taught. She teaches right and good values and when you leave her class. You can not feel anything but happiness, contentment and eagerness. She teaches you the theory behind everything and gives more detail when everyone knows the basics already... She doesn't care if you come into the class not knowing a thing, but she does care of what is in your head when you step out. She satisfies every level of students, be it a slow learner or a genius, hungry for more[that's me!!!]. I can go on forever here, writing about her greatness but I wouldn't do her justice... So...

Wrapping things off, let me just say that none comparable... She is the Anne Sullivan to my Helen Keller. [both in a teacher, light, guide, friend and a motherly sense] I owe to her every scrap of goodness, kindness and intellect in me that I can muster...

----------


## EAP

> For all the students in these forums...have you had an English/Literature teacer that you felt did a really great job and that really had an affect on you?


None and none. 




> Tell us about your favorite literature/English teachers and what they did that was so great!


He kept his mouth shut for most of the period and thus escaped from making a fool out of himself, a majority of times.

----------


## Virgil

I must say I've had lots of great English professors/teachers that I could highlight here.  But I must highlight a Prof. Strieter (I think that's how he spelled it, but somehow it doesn't look right). I had him for Elizabethan Drama Excluding Shakespeare. First he made the class a lot of fun. He was an Orthodox Jew, and had a great Jewish sense of humor. He showed me how to poke fun at things and still be serious. Sharp as a whip, he turned people's words inside out almost like a Shakespearean comic character. He was an elderly man, and yet he adopted a child in his elderly years, and it was a great source of pride to him, never having had children. That too has always stuck with me. But what made Prof. Streiter a great teacher to me was that he showed me how to apply Aristotilian critical method to literature. Most teachers just explain a work or teach a work, but I can't recall any teacher ever teaching a method to understanding literature other than Prof. Strieter. In the class he applied it to drama, but he showed how to apply it to any form of literature. And from this he showed us what makes a great work of art, and we discussed that too. That was probably over twenty years ago, so I imagine Prof. Streiter has passed on. When you see me breaking down a piece of literature in some other thread, it almost feels like Streiter is speaking from inside me. If heaven exists, some day I would love to sit in his class again.

----------


## IrishCanadian

In highschool: Mrs. Moorefield was kindness personified (she toaght me that word too).
In university (so far): Prof. Wyse: Down right hilarious and had such a contagious enthusaism.
I miss some of my highschool teachers. Mrs. Moorefiled, and my grade eleven history teacher too for that matter, are the typre of people I can see myself spending time with outside of the classroom just to spend time together once I'm a little older.

----------


## cuppajoe_9

I haven't had an english teacher worth posting about so far, although I'm excited to take a class from a Dr. Harvey next year. My friend claims to have signed up for classes that he taught even if he wasn't interested in them. Also he taught my dad. Which is weird.

----------


## Taliesin

Our english teachers have never been really great.
However, all of our literature teachers have been good. 
The first one was good (5th-9th grade). She was quite experienced too.
The second one lasted for a year. Then she got married to a foreigner and went to live outside Estonia. She was young and didn't have much experience, but was very nice and could communicate very well.

The teacher we have this year is legendary. Not only does she lead acting groups of our school foor about fve years (from where does she take the energy?) but also has a lot of experience, is a great communicator and a bit wacky. Tells stories and can go from very serious to lauhing in a minute. And teaches how to think. Makes people think. And she can really do it.

But we have other great teachers as well. 
An art history teacher, who seems usually like a very shy man and dictates very-very fast (luckily We have another art histoory teacher - a red-headed punkish woman who rides a motorbike and is quite a personality too) but writes poems, of which some are, how should we say, very daring. (we think that his last collection was not suggested to under 16-year olds) Very stoic. 
We have heard, that once, when Contra (a famous estonian punk poet and singer) came to our school to perform and mentioned that he liked the teachers' poetry, no muscle moved in his face. When he said that he is one of Contra's idols, he still remained calm and was calm even then when Contra declared that he had stolen his book from a book-shop.

----------


## Shakira

This year my literature batch was blessed by Prof. Subramanian [ lovingly called Subbu ma'am ] & Prof. Anita Phillips. Both of them have been exceptionally helpful during our exams. We used to call Subbu ma'am "Oxford Material" because of her explanation methods. The questions given to us as class assignments were also asked in the University papers. I am really thankful to them & I am sure that I will score excellent marks in the exams. Amen.

----------


## Pensive

I never had a really very good English teacher. In 4th Grade, my English teacher was very religious. In her lesson, she used to make us learn the Surahs from Holy Quran and Duah's and she used to bully students a lot. 

In 5th Grade, my English teacher was quite good, not bad. Her lectures were interesting and I really learnt quite a lot from her but she had certain "favourites" Her treatment was not equal to all the students.

Right now, my English teacher is also my class teacher. She is really good but I am not much fond of her English. She makes a few mistakes during her lecture but she is the one who is really interested in English Language and Literature and teaches us with interest and her students enjoy her lectures. She is also very kind and helping and my whole class love her because she does not give much homework.

----------


## cuppajoe_9

> I never had a really very good English teacher. In 4th Grade, my English teacher was very religious. In her lesson, she used to make us learn the Surahs from Holy Quran and Duah's and she used to bully students a lot.


That reminds me of my math teacher. Last year she told are class that people lived to be 900 years old before the flood (I assume she meant the biblical one). My friend's response was "Hey, I'm 900 years old, do you believe me? What if I write it down and someone finds it?"

----------


## TEND

I have two,

One was Mrs. Shuster, she really helped introduce me to literature, she taught Steinbeck and introduced me to Hemingway and Salinger. Lots of people hated her just because she makes you work. Really rekindled my love for English that had been dwindling for the past 2 years. 

Second is Ms. Keller. Very understanding and very intelligent. She understood when you get 'Academic Slumps', she understood how us teenagers worked. Taught us some fantastic stuff in grade 11 (Two, count em' two Orwell novels, Frost, and Macbeth) and she let me give lots of suggestions for next year and has said that we will do Joyce (The Dead as per my request), Faulkner (Barn burning as her choice and possibly A Rose for Emily, which was mine) and wants to novel study! She's teaching us Hamlet next year even though the division is removing it from the curriculum. Always stays after school to hang out with the gang, and always up to discuss literature. We constantly exchange books and relate our interpretations to eachother (I currently have Heart of Darkness from her and she currently has Stranger in a Strange Land from me). She has definitely impacted me in an extremely positive way. 

Thanks a lot, to both of you!

----------


## Maida

Mr. Calvert was my English teacher freshmen year and he was amazing. He taught me so much, mostly how to write a good essay, but he also encouraged the reader in me. All his students loved him for his sense of humor, but respected him for his ability to teach.

----------


## superunknown

Mr. Ingram basically taught me to read all over again, and he taught me to appreciate poetry. He's a very nice guy who's easy to relate to, great sense of humor and very easy to get along with, but when I first took a class with him I was taken aback by the way he had of analyzing a book like no other teacher I'd ever had before and really pointing out the subtleties. He recommends me stuff, gives me free books when there's spare ones from other classes, and has a lot of faith in my writing abilities. Also, as I've said already, he taught me how to understand, analyze, and appreciate poetry, as my view of it prior to taking his classes was of something really boring and nonsensical and artsy-farsty, but he taught me how much work really goes into a poem and how the true nature of poetry is very different from the perception most people have of it (many times even English teachers!). I've had 2 other very good English teachers, but it was Ingram that planted the seed for my appreciation of literature.

----------


## bazarov

Best profesor is Mr.Keating(Dead poets society)  :FRlol:  !!! You should all try to be like him, and my teacher wasn't...  :Rage:

----------


## Asa Adams

hahahaha Baz...you crazy!!  :FRlol:

----------


## bazarov

I'm wondering what are you doing to yours...

----------


## amanda_isabel

english teacher... well, i can't say that mine are exceptional. i mean, i studied elementary in a private school where english was required. and now in high school, well... my first year teacher is my teacher again this year, and, well, the least i can say is she's open minded, and she listens. my teacher in the second year was religious but she didn't usually accept correction. at least she was funny. 

i guess the best teacher i've had is my mentor/director for specialization class (our high school has a special program for the arts, of which i, specializing in theater arts, am a part of.) she has an evil side but she's really like a mother to us. but outside of the theater/classroom she's like a best friend (kinda like my mom). as i said she has an evil side but, for me, it can be overlooked--maybe not easily, but it can be overlooked. she knows each of us very well, and treats us as individuals. to mrs. lorna rivera, mentor and adviser to our class, if you happen to read this thread one of these days, thank you, for everything.

----------


## miss tenderness

I had an Egyptian teacher , I can never forget that person . She impressed me so much in her way of loving literature . She can be left talking about a novel for 4 hours without being bored . She enjoys everything she does, full of inspiration and tenderness.

----------


## bhamtya

I have had various english teachers so far. almost a new every year. though i lose any contact whatsoever with most of them. i am still in contact with an exceptional teacher, poet, lyricist and a short story writer. we called her MGK..dats her initials.
she was all english....everything. her life was english. her profession was english.
i will always remember her no matter how great i become or how far away i go from my hometown. :Smilewinkgrin:

----------


## Lokasenna

I wasn't even going to go to university until my teacher bullied me into going, something I'm very grateful for. She is also one the most inspirational people I have ever met, combining a fierce intellect with an absolute dedication to her students and her subject. I'm still very much in touch with her as well, which is nice, as her eldest son is a good friend of mine.

So, there we have it, I have no qualms about openly singing the praises of Dr Anne-Marie McMahon - the best teacher a young, artistically inclined student could have had.

----------


## Skia

I had one, A subsitute teacher who taught me a lot more in one day!

She taught me about the use of Juxtaposition, Oxymorons, iambic pentameter! 

Loved her!!  :Biggrin:

----------


## Perandorrrr

In tenth grade I had a wonderful English teacher, mister Collins. I wasn't very interested in studying stories through teachers considering the number of good teachers I had were pitiful. He read out loud many occasions; had a wonderful voice -- like Orson Welles. We read "Merchant of Venice", "Tale of Two Cities" and some other works that year. When he started to really explain Shakespeare and his importance to literature I slowly fell in love with writing. I liked it before, but really started to understand elements of it during that period. If I had a few more teachers like him throughout my schooling I would've been light years ahead of where I was when I started college. Thanks, mister Collins.

----------


## iRead

Coming from a seventh grader, yeah!
Okay, English teacher? Hm. Mostly, they've been alright, they've never seemed to be really great or stick out. (Maybe because the advanced classes are simply too easy. They need to make it harder) so good grades have been easily earned and no one-on-one coaching was ever given to me or my friends last year. This year?
What the long-term substitute calls "lessons" is review. When the actual teacher comes back, I hope she makes it a bit more challenging. 
Hoping for Mrs. Adams to be the best English teacher I've ever had!

----------


## <Trinity>

My favourite English teacher was the best teacher I've ever had for anything, EVER! He made me feel that my interest in writing and literature could actually take me somewhere in life, beyond school. He opened my eyes to poetry and the subtleties it can contain, and really helped me unravel the meaning of the poem. Also we studied sci-fi and DR WHO :Biggrin:  and BLADERUNNER :Biggrin:  and BRAVE NEW WORLD  :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:  and lots of VERY COOL STUFF :Biggrin:  that was actually thought-provoking and interesting. He made English my favourite favourite favourite subject, even though he challenged us, and he actually gave me feedback on my work that was extremely helpful relevant, not necessarily just to that essay but my writing in general. He gave me something that I could actually apply in the future.I never thought I could enjoy writing essays, but with this teacher I looked forward to them! Strange, I know, but very true.
I felt that I learnt more about poetry, essays, creative writing and everything English should be than any other teacher I've ever had, and his classes made me realise why I've always wanted to write, and that that was what I actually want to do with my life after school, in any small degree.
Unfortunately he left after I'd had him for about a term. And English went back to being ... well, good, but not amazing. But he made me feel that I did have the potential to write, and he's definitely inspired me to do so. So thankyou Mr Bell, thankyou so much. :Angel:

----------

