Dr. Poetter's Teaching Again

Teaching Again tells the story of a college professor going back to the basics, where his teaching experience started, teaching high school students. This is an experiment and experience that many would be too afraid to do. However, Dr. Poetter seems to grab the bull by the horns and jump into the world of teaching again. Dr. Poetter was kind enough to help out a fellow teacher, who had an overloaded schedule, for the semester, taking on one of the freshman English classes. It is evident, that the initial expectation of the class would be smooth sailing. There was the underlying idea that things would be similar to when Dr. Poetter originally taught in high school. The experience would simply allow Dr. Poetter to brush up on his teaching skills. …show more content…
Though Dr. Poetter was not a “new” teacher, this was an unfamiliar situation; it was a “like-new” experience. In the teaching again experience, the students were unwilling and reluctant to accept Dr. Poetter as a teacher. It was poor timing, as the class had a student teacher the first semester, and now Dr. Poetter. They unfortunately never got class time with the teacher they were originally assigned; a teacher well known throughout the school, with a great reputation. Poetter had not yet built up a reputation to gain the seal of approval, and because he was only there for one semester he never was able to. As the semester progressed, he slowly was able to gain respect from the students. Dr. Poetter may have thought that he “made a deal with the devil” after agreeing to switch seating assignments if the students did well on the poetry assignment, but I personally think this was the wisest decision. Poetter may have not been able to understand what the students were capable of until they had a carrot dangling in front of their face. This allowed him to see their work, when they were trying. This allowed him to gain some sense of respect from the students. This allowed him to understand many of the students’ secret talents, or level of work they are able to produce. Dr. Poetter could have adjusted this so that he would reassign the seats himself, instead of letting the students choose. This way the students would receive new seats, but there would not be constant chatter from friends sitting