1) The document discusses the impact of passionate, caring teachers compared to those who are just doing the job for a paycheck. It notes that student success, grades, attendance, and participation are much higher in classes where teachers make learning fun and show they care about their students. 2) It provides an example of the author's father, a math teacher, who students love and excel in his class because he works hard to understand the material and make it engaging for students. 3) While teachers influence the future of America every day, they often do not receive the attention or respect given to celebrities and politicians. The document argues teachers have a profound impact on students' lives and character development.

1. Caleb Frischknecht
English 2010 T 10:00 am
Briggs
Sup e r m a n in t h e C l a s s r o o m
Staring at the projection on the wall, the students slip into a zombified state of
mind as the teacher scribbles meaningless information on the overhead. In another room,
just across the hall the atmosphere is energetic with excitement as another teacher gives
the students a reason to want to learn with his own
personal interest in the subject. The students in my
dad’s math class not only have learned the subject
better but have also learned to love math itself. Not
QuickTimeª and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture. once has there been a student that I have come in
contact with that has said anything bad about Mr.
Frisch. The only comment that is ever said is “He
was the best teacher I ever had!” Besides his
average teacher salary, seeing success in his
students is the only bonus he ever really gets.
“It is hard to hear the media, politicians, and society in general denigrate those of
us who often have to put our lives on hold so we can help our nation’s children become
productive members of that society.” (Author Unknown, A Day in the Life of a Teacher)
Student success rates are much higher in classes where teachers care more about their
students and make the classroom a fun place to be. Not only do grades go up but so does
attendance and participation in class. There are plenty of teachers who just took up the
job as an easy way to make some money, but then there are those who took the job to

2. really try and make a difference. They are influencing the future of America every day,
and yet professional
sports players,
reality TV stars, and
politicians are the
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ones who get all the decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
attention. A lot of
people think that
school is just a place
to learn subjects like
math and English, but it’s not just about that, it’s about building character and finding
direction in your life. "The research shows that kids who have two, three, four strong
teachers in a row will eventually excel, no matter what their background, while kids who
have even two weak teachers in a row will never recover," says Kati Haycock of the
Education Trust and coauthor of the 2006 study "Teaching Inequality: How Poor and
Minority Students Are Shortchanged on Teacher Quality."
Just like the
thousands of students my
dad has had over the many
years as a teacher, he is
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decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
constantly learning. For
example last year he took on
the duty of teaching

3. statistics for the first time in his career. He spent countless hours every night studying the
lesson he had to explain the very next day. Accepting the fact that his knowledge of the
subject was limited, he worked hard with his students to help them make the most of the
class. After the results of the test came back, he was surprised to see that his class had an
average of 97% overall on the final test, placing in the top 10% in the nation.
To his students, my dad is like a star athlete or movie star. They look up to him
and learn many lessons. They will most likely forget a lot of the math that was taught, but
they will always remember how it was taught. He isn’t signing autographs or buying a
new corvette, nor will he ever. The only people he has touched are those that he has
taught, the rest of the world will go on with their lives, not even giving him a second
thought… because he is just a teacher.
Works Cited
" A Day in the Life (of a teacher) - Teacher Lady - Open Salon ." Open Salon: You make
the headlines . N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2012.
http://open.salon.com/blog/teacher_lady/2010/11/01/a_day_in_the_life_of_a_teacher
Thomas, Evan, and Pat Wingert. "Why We Must Fire Bad Teachers - The Daily Beast."
The Daily Beast. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/
2010/03/05/why-we-must-fire-bad-teachers.html