Any Given Day in Room 125
The day I got my first class schedule for Mandan High was a big day for me. It signified a new time in my life, so my excitement was high as I looked over it with my family after coming home from Freshman Orientation. My sister did not waste any time: “Did you get Mr. Fitterer?” I glanced at the sheet, and found I had Mr. Fitterer for 2nd semester Geometry. I smiled. Mr. Fitterer, who my dad coached in baseball, was widely known in our house for a 30 year-long debate over whether my dad was ejected from a game in which Mr. Fitterer was the pitcher. Now he would be my teacher, and I was very excited. However, when 2nd semester came, I found that we would be having a student teacher, meaning my time with Mr. Fitterer …show more content…
Fitterer is the best example of organization and effective teaching methods at Mandan High. Though his lesson plans appear monotonous, they are just structured, and I love them. Furthermore, he has a routine, something students can count on when they come to his class. Lectures are prepared, assignments are ready, and everything runs very smoothly. John Wooden, legendary basketball coach at UCLA, famously prepared practice plans down to the minute, and always stuck to them. Mr. Fitterer is the closest example I could find to Coach Wooden in the way he prepares for his class, a very important criterion to me for Mandan’s Best Teacher Award. Moreover, his teaching methods are second to very few because of their simplicity. Recently during a lecture, Mr. Fitterer said, “Remember what they say. Keep it simple,...stupid.” It got a laugh, but it is the best way to describe how Mr. Fitterer teaches, because there is nothing complicated about it even though it is complicating material. He often says his teaching philosophy is to be like a swimming coach instead of a lifeguard: he will teach his students to swim as best they can, but he won’t keep them from drowning. In my case, my “swimming” has improved without a doubt in my time in Mr. Fitterer’s class, and there was nothing complicated about it. To illustrate, before Pre-Calc tests last year, we would have a review day where we would go up to the board in small groups and practice the types of problems we would see on the …show more content…
Fitterer is, “Why does he teach?” For the below-average pay, extra work, and snobby kids? Probably not. So he can spend long nights in a hospital with his daughters, sleeping in a chair, knowing he has to get up in the morning and teach because no one else can do what he does? Probably not. So he can get Mandan High’s Best Teacher Award, maybe more than any other teacher? Although I’m sure he appreciates it, still probably not. No, for Mr. Fitterer, the answer lies with another fantastic math teacher. Every year at the Awards Banquet, Mr. Fitterer presents the Jim Lundstrom Scholarship and says, “I would not be a teacher if weren’t for Mr. Lundstrom. He inspired me to teach math as a career.” That means I have Mr. Lundstrom to thank for Mr. Fitterer, I have Mr. Lundstrom to thank for countless pieces of knowledge, I have Mr. Lundstrom to thank for always making me laugh by saying, “Everything come out all right?” when someone comes back from the bathroom, and I have Mr. Lundstrom to thank for making me look forward to 2nd or 3rd period every day for half of high school, but I have Mr. Fitterer to thank for turning a kid who was good at math into a kid who loved
The day I got my first class schedule for Mandan High was a big day for me. It signified a new time in my life, so my excitement was high as I looked over it with my family after coming home from Freshman Orientation. My sister did not waste any time: “Did you get Mr. Fitterer?” I glanced at the sheet, and found I had Mr. Fitterer for 2nd semester Geometry. I smiled. Mr. Fitterer, who my dad coached in baseball, was widely known in our house for a 30 year-long debate over whether my dad was ejected from a game in which Mr. Fitterer was the pitcher. Now he would be my teacher, and I was very excited. However, when 2nd semester came, I found that we would be having a student teacher, meaning my time with Mr. Fitterer …show more content…
Fitterer is the best example of organization and effective teaching methods at Mandan High. Though his lesson plans appear monotonous, they are just structured, and I love them. Furthermore, he has a routine, something students can count on when they come to his class. Lectures are prepared, assignments are ready, and everything runs very smoothly. John Wooden, legendary basketball coach at UCLA, famously prepared practice plans down to the minute, and always stuck to them. Mr. Fitterer is the closest example I could find to Coach Wooden in the way he prepares for his class, a very important criterion to me for Mandan’s Best Teacher Award. Moreover, his teaching methods are second to very few because of their simplicity. Recently during a lecture, Mr. Fitterer said, “Remember what they say. Keep it simple,...stupid.” It got a laugh, but it is the best way to describe how Mr. Fitterer teaches, because there is nothing complicated about it even though it is complicating material. He often says his teaching philosophy is to be like a swimming coach instead of a lifeguard: he will teach his students to swim as best they can, but he won’t keep them from drowning. In my case, my “swimming” has improved without a doubt in my time in Mr. Fitterer’s class, and there was nothing complicated about it. To illustrate, before Pre-Calc tests last year, we would have a review day where we would go up to the board in small groups and practice the types of problems we would see on the …show more content…
Fitterer is, “Why does he teach?” For the below-average pay, extra work, and snobby kids? Probably not. So he can spend long nights in a hospital with his daughters, sleeping in a chair, knowing he has to get up in the morning and teach because no one else can do what he does? Probably not. So he can get Mandan High’s Best Teacher Award, maybe more than any other teacher? Although I’m sure he appreciates it, still probably not. No, for Mr. Fitterer, the answer lies with another fantastic math teacher. Every year at the Awards Banquet, Mr. Fitterer presents the Jim Lundstrom Scholarship and says, “I would not be a teacher if weren’t for Mr. Lundstrom. He inspired me to teach math as a career.” That means I have Mr. Lundstrom to thank for Mr. Fitterer, I have Mr. Lundstrom to thank for countless pieces of knowledge, I have Mr. Lundstrom to thank for always making me laugh by saying, “Everything come out all right?” when someone comes back from the bathroom, and I have Mr. Lundstrom to thank for making me look forward to 2nd or 3rd period every day for half of high school, but I have Mr. Fitterer to thank for turning a kid who was good at math into a kid who loved