I’m not a teaching expert, far from it actually. I’m a student who took an education class at my previous institution, I did a practicum and some minimal student teaching, and realized that it wasn’t something I wanted to do long term, but that class taught me a lot about my previous frustrations with instructors and teachers from both my high school and college experience.

Here’s my “unpopular, unsolicited opinion” if you are a teacher and you start your class by telling your students that most of them won’t pass, you are a bad teacher.

Bad teachers, can be smart people, they can hold multiple degrees or doctorates, but just because someone is smart and well versed in their field doesn’t mean that they will be a good teacher.

The whole point of college and other schooling is to learn, and to build upon your previous knowledge and understanding. A good teacher should be able to articulate how different elements within their field work, and should be able to relay that information to students at the student’s level.

Students don’t walk into the classroom experts on the subject they intend to learn, they have to be taught basic concepts. There needs to be a balance between letting a student fall and holding their hand.

Teachers, you chose this field, you made a conscious decision that this is what you wanted to do, and your job is to teach, answer questions and help students or be able to direct students to the help they need.

There is a difference between students failing because they don’t try, and students failing because the teacher has not properly relayed the information or prepared them.

Any teacher who has bragged about how many students they fail is a bad teacher.

I think that it’s important for future teachers to be able to recognize that this is not a good quality to have, don’t strive to be the teacher that “doesn’t ever give A’s.”

It’s better to recognize early that not everyone is cut out for teaching, it requires patience, expertise and the ability to articulate and relay information to people who are not as experienced as you.

Zoë Donovan is a junior journalism major. They can be reached at 581–2812 or at zedonovan@eiu.edu