Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results

#71

Post by colomon » Wed, Jan 08, 2014, 11:02 PM UTC

thrush wrote: post #50

colomon wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I speak and (perhaps) write good English because he piqued my interest and taught me to strive because I can always get better." You used "piqued" correctly, that already puts you beyond probably 80% of native-born English speakers in writing. ;)

woah. is this an actual statistic? any chance you have a reference for where you got that number? (genuine curiosity)

Sorry, no, that number was completely pulled out of my ass as a slightly more interesting way of saying that failed attempts to use that phrase are distressingly common. "Peaked my interest" and "peeked my interest" both get millions of hits on Google search. My impression is it's one of the most common English errors you see that doesn't involve pronoun trouble.

Re: Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results

#72

Post by Haul4ss » Wed, Jan 08, 2014, 11:33 PM UTC

userulluipeste wrote: post #60

Haul4ss wrote: post #27

One of the most concise descriptions of good teachers I've seen actually came from pg in his "rarely asked questions" list. http://www.paulgraham.com/raq.html (1) They had high standards. (2) They liked us. (3) They were interested in the subject. I've been unable to express what makes a good teacher more concretely than that.

I think that's more valid to parenting than to teaching. For me to call one a teacher, one has to have: (1) Something to teach me. (2) Willingness to teach me. (3) A serious attitude towards teaching once he decides on that.

You could almost argue that your 1, 2, and 3 are the same thing as my 3, 2, and 1.

Re: Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results

#73

Post by mattlutze » Fri, Jan 10, 2014, 12:48 PM UTC

DanBC wrote: post #13

mattlutze wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there must be a psychological equivalent to the feeling that your kids' sports teams "play to their opponents." I would not be surprised for research to demonstrate that children perform to the expectations given them, particularly when those expectations are clear and consistent. In fact, most people thrive in environments where they understand the rules, rewards, penalties, and where those structures are ev…

The environment you describe doesn't include "ripping people a new one" for spelling errors. Correcting mistakes is one thing but insulting people making errors is probably harmful not helpful.

My strictest, and most beneficial, professor was so hard on my writing that, when I finally produced something up to his expectations, his feedback comment casually wondered whether I had plagiarized it.

It's cliche because there's some merit: he wasn't our friend, but had an incredibly positive effect on our abilities in the subject.

I've no strong opinion whether public shaming is good or bad with spelling errors. Maybe the hypersensitivity we've culturally adopted to the emotional state of children biases our perception of the impact of such things.

Re: Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results

#74

Post by erikb » Sun, Jan 12, 2014, 2:17 PM UTC

hrkristian wrote: post #61

erikb wrote: post #58

In my eyes this kind of vision, that old teaching style is better than new style, derives from old people more out of a sentimental desire than out of real results. Modern teaching methods are very likely much more successful than older one's, because in such kind of details humanity generally is able to improve well (can't provide statistics, though). People are not completely wrong, though, when they say that the o…

>The main reason I am writing this comment is that I believe the way to progress is forward not backwards. I couldn't disagree more, forward only implies new, which isn't necessarily better. The old paradigm of teaching, I find, was built on a lack of rules; evolving naturally from the one-on-one home upbringing, to apprenticeships and into the modern classroom. (Feel free to add jumps.) Obviously it had flaws, as wi…

I love your straight disagreement and have to agree with most of your arguments. Your first line is not complete, though. You said forward doesn't imply better, which is true. Forward can even mean worse. But we already know that backwards never gets better, because it was already shitty the last time. We must make new experiences to find the path towards better.