a teacher should learn as much as he teaches

wikipedia.org defines a teacher as 'a person who educates others'. the same website refers to education as any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character, or physical ability of an individual.

cutting through the smog, this simply means that if you are a teacher, someone has to learn something from you, and it better be good.

• a good teacher shares what he knows to his students. what he knows may be from his studies or from his own experiences.

• a better teacher does not stop there. he continues to learn more, learn new things, gather more experiences, and shares these to his students.
  

• better than the better teacher is one who after (or in the process) of learning new stuff, shares these not only to his students, but to his fellow teachers as well. this way, the transmission of the good stuff is more far reaching.

the day after tomorrow, i am going to give a talk to fellow physics teachers, which would me my nth time doing so.

not so fast with the applause. no, it does not make me a hotshot that i do this. no, it does not mean i am a better teacher than those in my audience (lots of them for sure are better than me).

what i actually do in these talks is just share with them the good stuff i have recently gained and hope that it helps them when they go back to their schools. it gives me immeasurable satisfaction thinking that students i don't even know would have me as their teacher by extension.

i am a teacher. i learn. i teach. i share.

am i defeating the purpose of my profession?

Another term is over (3rd Quarterm SY 2008-2009). The nth term in my nth year as a teacher. This past term is not quite like the other terms though. Did I hear you ask why? Ok. Here are the reasons.
First, let us group the students into "regulars" (batch 2007) and the "specials" (the rest). I had 159 lecture students last term. 100 regulars and 59 specials.
Although I never liked failing students ("failing" here is a verb and not an adjective), it is inevitable. I don't have a "quota" (I know some teachers must fail a certain percentage of their students to protect their "credibility"), but here are the stats:

• Around 20% of the regulars usually do not make it in my classes.
  
• More than 50% of the specials ALWAYS fail.

For the recent past term, here are the stats:

• Only 1% of the regulars failed. This means only one regular student failed.
  
• Only 15% of the specials failed. That's 9 of 59. And 2 of those 9 did not attend classes regularly. So technically, only 7 of 57 failed (12%).

What the hell happened? Did I become a better teacher? I doubt that. I was the same old fart who taught the same things and told the same jokes.
Did my students shower me with gifts that I passed them for it? I don't think so. Just the wayward chocolate bar and a bottle of scent were given to me. And even if a student gives me anything and then fails to turn in the minimum requirement, he/she would still fail.
Did the students wake up one morning liking physics and performed better? That's like running in a race with an in-grown toenail.
It's not like my students are complaining about the result, almost everybody passed afterall, but what really happened? Maybe I unconsciously changed. Whatever brought that change benefited my students. Did it? They may have to ask themselves the same after a year or so.
Am I defeating the purpose of my profession? If I am, then maybe it's time to retire.

it's been a year. now what?

it has been a year since i started this blog. some things changed. i turned a year older, lost a few thousand strands of hair, added a pound or so of mass in the middle, raised my BP (170/100 the last time i checked!), failed a few students, passed a few hundred of them, got a new ride, and the list goes on.
some things did not change. i still smoke. i still teach. i'm still cheerful (most of the time) and grumpy at times.
now what?
i want to do something new. whatever it is, i don't know yet. it has to be something i haven't done before. it has to be done before i lose the energy and the will.

the grades are in

I finished marking the final exam papers this morning. got so excited that i computed the grades right after. and here's the stats: 4 got flat 1.00, 4 got 1.25, 1 got 1.50, and 2 got 1.75. Not bad at all!

Aside from these "rock star" students, 20 more managed to actually pass!!! Of the 31 who passed, 28 are batch07's. The results is sort of expected. The "regular" takers will make it and the repeat offenders will not.

28 out of 59 failed! Either the older batches can't keep up with their younger classmates or can't keep up with me. Maybe they just don't care and they have lots of money to burn.

again, i did my part. everybody had his chance to get extra credits. as i've said in my previous post, teachers teach, students study.

merry christmas to all of you. see you next year!

today is the final exams. i have posted my students class standing and the score they need to get to at least pass. those who need to get more than 100% to pass need not take the exam. although it's their right to still take the exam, it will just be a waste of time for them (and for me). and these people should not come to me after the exam to "verify". what the "f" is there to verify? they should spare me from the annoying bugging and themselves from the humiliation of begging.

for the rest of the students who still have fighting chances, just one tip if you are ever to see your prof after a final exam: come alone. do not come with an army of bodyguards or gofers and supporters or friends (or worse a fellow bug-begger).

profs hate being put on the spot. what if you only need a few tenths of a percent to pass and the prof may actually decide to give you extra work? but you came with another bug-begger who needs an arm, a leg, and his head to pass (read: hopeless). if i were the prof, i'll just fail both of you.

if you want it, you'll find ways to get it

last tuesday, i gave a (p)review of the next day quiz. the room was more than half-filled (about 15 or so students out of my 60 lecture students). 25% of my students showed up!!! not bad. though around 3 of those who came were just "sit-ins".

those who attended discovered the following day that exerting a little more effort always pays off. i gave them a challenge for extra credits. find my blog and leave a note. i did not give them any clue where to look and they had to find it before the next-day quiz. i never thought they would find this blog but they did. 8 of them did (or maybe just one and then passed (or sold) the info to others). it's a proof that, if you want something, you'll find ways to get it. we'll that's extra 10 quiz-points for you.

on monday, there will be a review class for the finals. 1030 AM at w314. sitting capacity only. eating/drinking in the room is prohibited but bringing coffee is welcome. :)

here we go again

in less than two weeks, it's the finals again. same old same old. here we go again. many students are in the "bug-beg" mode again. they bug their profs then beg them to give them passing marks. but i am a teacher. if i wanted to be merciful to people who beg, i would have run for congress. not that i would win, but congressmen are known to be kind-hearted. right? oh! only to their patrons. back to bug-begging your profs. the only difference now is that it's the christmas season. profs are supposedly kinder-hearted and more giving. after all, what prof would cause his students' miseries during the holidays? okay, there are a few who do just that. but in retrospect, is it really the prof who caused (or will cause) your miseries this christmas?

to my students, did you do your part? i know i did my best to do mine given the time constraints. here's the good news! if you happen to read this, leave a note and i'll give you a "christmas bonus" (not the monetary kind though) which may spell the difference between passing or failing. i'll check on tuesday, dec 2.