Just yesterday, I was sifting through literally hundreds of unread junk e-mails and Campus Announcements when I came across an e-mail regarding the Teacher of the Year Award. I was pretty surprised that I even noticed the message, seeing as though I usually disregard a lot of what gets sent to my inbox. I clicked on the e-mail and was instructed to fill out a short online survey about who I thought exemplified our school’s best teacher.
After completing the survey, I began to wonder: how many students actually take the time to fill this out? By posting an online survey, the administration is assuming that students check Stagweb on a regular basis, which is not by any means true. I know some people who actually avoid logging on to our school’s official e-mail server, due to its frequent unreliability and tendency to flood its users with unwanted messages.
This brings me to my next point. Stagweb doesn’t have the best filtering system, which becomes increasingly apparent when seniors receive FYE reminders and sophomores are notified of Senior Night events. These e-mails are completely irrelevant to the lives of its recipients and as a result, students who actually check Stagweb often end up blindly deleting Campus Announcements to avoid the hassle altogether. Because of this, the handful of messages that are actually worth reading often become lost in the recycle bin.
It’s unfortunate that these factors, along with the hectic lives of college students, can compromise the overall accuracy of the poll, and ultimately the Teacher of the Year Award.
A great teacher has to be both knowledgeable and passionate about the subject matter. I’ve found that some of my best teachers had the ability to engage me in my least favorite subjects. Professors who possess a dynamic presence and a desire to help students both understand and appreciate the material always turn classroom lectures into a much more enjoyable and worthwhile experience.
A noteworthy teacher is also someone who promotes a level of open communication, trust, kindness, and respect. Students should not be afraid to voice their opinions in class for fear of being wrong, rather they should be eager to express their new and insightful thoughts.
Lastly, outstanding teachers usually have a strong impact on their students in some way. In addition to asking some of my best teachers for letters of recommendation, I also enjoy having conversations with them outside of class whenever we happen to run into each other.
These are people who have helped me expand academically, and for that I am very grateful. Such distinguished teachers truly deserve the representation, which is why everyone should find the nearest computer and vote for their favorite teacher via Stagweb.
Leave a Reply