By Myah Hesselgesser, Staff Writer
As the school year starts to wrap up, students are ready to walk away with new knowledge and experiences. Although this school year has been filled with stressful and fun moments, these experiences not only apply to students. Teachers are beginning to reminisce on the school year, looking back on their successful and unsuccessful approaches.
This year has been crazy with surreal occurrences and memorable moments. Some of the most prominent include the black history month assembly, the cultural stations and assembly, and more. Mr. Engler, chemistry teacher, shared that he “appreciated being able to primarily focus on working with young people and teaching chemistry.”
Students may think that they are the only ones learning, but teachers often learn a lot from their students. Teachers can better understand what works well and what doesn’t when teaching a class, and how to improve students’ experiences in their classrooms. Also let’s not forget about the many names they have to memorize. Art teacher Mr. Cecil expressed how he “learned how open and accepting of others students are – our diversity is such a beautiful asset at River Hill and it really can be so critical to welcoming anyone into our community.”
What are teachers going to do to improve next school year? Mr. Engler communicated a strategy that he uses to help improve each year, “During the school year I keep a list of things to change for the following year. After the AP Exam, I go through the list and begin to make changes.” While no one can predict the future, teachers can have hopes of how next year is going to turn out. Mr. Cecil spoke on how he “hopes students can feel more focused and present in class and when learning – there are lots of distractions and I hope they can be put aside during the school day.”
Just like people can’t predict the future, they can’t change the past. Instead, they can look back and admit to things they wish could have gone differently. Every year, teachers have to create new lesson plans based on the class and productivity of students. Some teachers feel like they should have approached their lessons differently than they did, like Mr. Cecil, who shared that he “would establish some better routines for my classes.”
Other teachers believe that it is best not to try and change the past, like Mr. Engler, “I have given this question some serious thought and nothing comes to mind. Anything about the year that didn’t go as I expected generally causes me to make changes that improves my instruction for future years.”
The most important thing that teachers should consider is whether or not they did a successful job preparing their students for future college and career. Mr. Cecil is extremely proud of all their students by stating, “Students made great art and I feel excited about next year.” and Mr. Engler believes that this year was a successful year because, “I taught what I needed to teach. I enjoyed working with my students. I enjoyed working with my colleagues. I love teaching at River Hill. All signs of another successful year.”
The school would not be able to function without teachers. Although they might seem like the bane of students’ existence, they work hard to teach their students and prepare them for the next year. So, let’s give a round of applause for all the teachers this year. Teachers, thank you for doing all that you’ve done!