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I had a teacher like this in high school for math. He taught algebra, geometry and calculus. He also ran the math team. ( He used to teach at Kenwood Academy

I had a teacher like this in high school for math. He taught algebra, geometry and calculus. He also ran the math team. ( He used to teach at Kenwood Academy in the Chicago public schools where I graduated in 1987 but now he is at New Trier. http://www.newtrier.k12.il.us/person.aspx?id=4450 http://www.newtrier.k12.il.us/person.aspx?id=4450 ). He was a strict, no-nonsense, here is the homework, here is the test, here is your grade, "oh, you didn't understand that, too bad, we're moving on" kind of guy. Was he successful? That depends on how you define it. There is a lot of survivor ship bias. Most kids would have some exposure to him for algebra and geometry and so when calculus was an option kids would think "hmmm, do I want to go through this with this guy?" Those who said yes did well. ( I think students scored either 4 or 5 on the test, 3s were rare and lower was almost unheard of ) The thing is that many very bright, capable kids who were interested in math said no to calculus because of him. I certainly never felt like I learned more from him than any other teacher I had who tried to get everyone to learn the material. Maybe a better comparison would be algebra and geometry since he taught those classes but other teachers did as well. Did his students perform any better than the students of other teachers? I would say not although I don't have the data to back it up. I had another teacher for algebra and then him for geometry and when I was in his geometry class with other students that had him for algebra I felt we were even. I never felt like the kids who had him for algebra were way ahead of me when it came to doing the algebra that came up in geometry.

yawboakye 13y ago
One thing that's true of the Mr K's out there is that they define their success entirely in terms of the success of _all_ their students. While a help-you-get-creative teacher will allow you fail because you "want" to (who really does?), a teacher who delivers tough love would make sure you succeed. In this permissive era where parents allow their kids to while away time in front of televisions and computer doing basically nothing, it's only great if teachers could act _in loco parentis_ and instruct not only in science and math but also in discipline and self-control
- vezzy-fnord 13y ago
  In this permissive era where parents allow their kids to while away time in front of televisions and computer doing basically nothing And also where they prohibit them from outside interactions and tightly monitor their social lives (or lack thereof). Hardly seems permissive to me.
  - yawboakye 13y ago
    Especially true for Africans and African Americans. But that represents a smaller percentage. When majority of Snapchat users are early teenagers then parents are really monitoring outside interactions and social lives.
- watwut 13y ago
  I think that it depends on what exactly are you tough about. You can have teacher that is strict and tough and happen to insist on less important things. Made up example would be math teacher assigning two hours a day of exercises and worksheets on simple equations, while other teachers already moved on and successfully teach "difficult" equations. Made up over the top example would be teacher that checks your notebook every other day whether it is nice, organized and colored. He would assign three hours of work of cutting and pasting and coloring and what not every day and make you rework historical diorama five times. However, that teacher could still miss that you have no idea what happened during historical period he is teaching and do not remember single name or date.

yawboakye 13y ago

One thing that's true of the Mr K's out there is that they define their success entirely in terms of the success of _all_ their students. While a help-you-get-creative teacher will allow you fail because you "want" to (who really does?), a teacher who delivers tough love would make sure you succeed. In this permissive era where parents allow their kids to while away time in front of televisions and computer doing basically nothing, it's only great if teachers could act _in loco parentis_ and instruct not only in science and math but also in discipline and self-control

vezzy-fnord 13y ago
In this permissive era where parents allow their kids to while away time in front of televisions and computer doing basically nothing And also where they prohibit them from outside interactions and tightly monitor their social lives (or lack thereof). Hardly seems permissive to me.
- yawboakye 13y ago
  Especially true for Africans and African Americans. But that represents a smaller percentage. When majority of Snapchat users are early teenagers then parents are really monitoring outside interactions and social lives.
watwut 13y ago
I think that it depends on what exactly are you tough about. You can have teacher that is strict and tough and happen to insist on less important things. Made up example would be math teacher assigning two hours a day of exercises and worksheets on simple equations, while other teachers already moved on and successfully teach "difficult" equations. Made up over the top example would be teacher that checks your notebook every other day whether it is nice, organized and colored. He would assign three hours of work of cutting and pasting and coloring and what not every day and make you rework historical diorama five times. However, that teacher could still miss that you have no idea what happened during historical period he is teaching and do not remember single name or date.