Smartest teacher ever

[Puppycow]

 

[angrysoba]

Sorry, but what actually made him even a remotely good teacher let alone "smartest"?

I don't want to sound too negative about the performance because I am sure that some people enjoyed it but it is really unclear what was actually being taught, what would be retained by the presumptive students and where the division between the teacher's duty and his self-indulgence was.

 

[Henry Bannister]

I'd agree with angry I'm afraid, the lecturer's trying to be too clever and doesn't get across what he's supposed to be teaching at all.

My nomination for smartest teacher ever would be this one, a friend e-mailed to me in the week.

http://www.upworthy.com/watch-a-tea...ther-for-the-best-reason-imaginable-2?c=cp2We

 

[Aepervius]

I have to agree with the two others. I got it he was trying to teach complex number, but only because I only know the math already. If I had no prior knowledge it would be confusing.

Now if it was an introduction (it is only 5 minutes) prior to a few weeks of lessons, i would say it might be a smart action as it would rise the itnerrest of student.

Need "moar" context.

 

[Henry Bannister]

Yes although he/the presentation was a good idea for real/imaginary.

 

[Denver]

That was pretty cool.

 

[rjh01]

It was funny. Would have made the students remember the teacher, though maybe not teach the students much.

 

[Puppycow]

Sorry, but what actually made him even a remotely good teacher let alone "smartest"?

I don't want to sound too negative about the performance because I am sure that some people enjoyed it but it is really unclear what was actually being taught, what would be retained by the presumptive students and where the division between the teacher's duty and his self-indulgence was.

I thought some grumpy person would say that. In fact the same thought occurred to me. But the video is less than 3 minutes long, and I'm pretty sure that there was another 40 minutes to an hour of class after that where he actually taught the subject matter. This is just a way to get the kids' attention at the beginning.

 

[angrysoba]

I thought some grumpy person would say that.

 

[Minoosh]

Imagine the time and creativity that went into this, just to have a chance to have kids pay attention to what seems to be an arcane mathematical concept.

Imagine being able to redirect that creativity because you don't have to reinvent the wheel to get kids' attention - for whatever reason they are primed to accept abstract subject matter and learn to manipulate symbols to arrive at a solution.

The teacher had fun, the kids had fun and once he'd done the routine he has it in his bag of tricks. But it also IMO feeds a culture that expects teachers to outdo themselves to entertain kids. If you are not a teacher you would be shocked at the levels of energy that go into making it "fun."

ETA: And that third-grade teacher's discrimination lesson would get her fired.

 

[Henry Bannister]

ETA: And that third-grade teacher's discrimination lesson would get her fired.

Yep unfortunately it would - but a life changing lesson is what education should be about. The looks on the kids faces at the end of it was lovely.

 

[Salerio]

Complex numbers

What level of students were they? It looked like a lecture theater that you'd get at a university or tertiary college. We did complex numbers at that level at 15. If I'd had that level of lecturing at tertiary level I'd have been laughing, but not for the right reasons.

Maybe i'm being a party-pooper

 

[Minoosh]

There has been a lot of repetition in my math courses - high school students are probably exposed to the concept and notation, but not much more. The guy had fun with it and so did his students so it's all good.

Watching teachers act silly is fun, even in college.