By Maggie Devereux
Online Managing Editor
There are many things at Prospect and in life in general that drive me crazy. You name it, I will most likely write it. There are a lot of matters in the world that matter to me. So of course, my opinions on these matters matter. And thus, by using the transitive property, I matter.
Oh, and after reading my wonderfully optimistic view of the world, you might want to check out Miranda Holloway’s Happy Thoughts for a mood booster. Just saying.
Loud Teachers: After missing two days of school for the Fall Journalism Convention — where Prospector won best story of the year, top 10 best in show and 10 individual awards — I had to make up four tests. Two I took Wednesday before I left, but one I had to take on Monday during my lunch period. So while I was taking my test outside of Mrs. Drye’s room, it was almost impossible not to focus on the teacher screaming a few rooms down. And no, it wasn’t even Mr. Sebestyen. I know walls may not be the thickest at Prospect, but that is no excuse for someone’s voice carrying halfway down the hall.
The problem was that anytime I tried to read a question carefully, my thoughts were interrupted by this teacher’s lesson plans. I considered multiple times walking into that teacher’s classroom and asking him to be a little quieter. That way he’d understand what it was like to be rudely interrupted. But let’s be honest, I would never actually do that to a teacher I didn’t know.
I have the same problem in my English class. Because we have a door that adjoins with the room next to ours, the teacher’s voice next to us carries so much it’s ridiculous. Whenever we are writing timed essays in class, I have temper tantrums because it’s impossible to focus.
Teachers should have respect for not only other teachers nearby, but also students in those classes who are trying to concentrate on their OWN classes.
Whether they realize it or not, many teachers at Prospect have incredibly loud voices, either from having to scream over kids for all these years or because they’re deaf from kids’ screaming. Either way, it still doesn’t make it acceptable to interfere with another person’s teaching or learning.
They should also realize the amount of measures the school goes to to make sure their classes aren’t interrupted by students traveling to and from their lockers during lunch hours. The security guards literally have to tell students they can’t go upstairs if they need something from their locker. The only way up is by making some lame excuse about going to the Math/Science Resource Room or that you’re actually in class that period.
If the school is taking measures to ensure teachers get a quiet hallway, then asking them to turn their voices down a few notches isn’t too much to ask.
So for teachers who feel the need almost yell during lessons, ask yourself this.
1. Are you yelling because no one is paying attention? Because if so then screaming is not going to solve your problems because the students most likely just don’t care. Screaming makes students more annoyed and more motivated to drown a teacher out.
2. Are you yelling to talk over your class? Then instead of trying to teach whatever you need to teach, first and foremost you should be focused on getting your class to quiet down. In a non-yelling kind of way of course.
3. Are you just a loud person? Maybe you don’t even realize everything I just wrote, I was writing about you. In this case, don’t be offended if someone politely asks you to be quiet the next time they’re taking a test and are distracted.
