Matilda: Chapter 7 - Chapter 11

[Prof. Gustavo Flores]

Following the story, in this thread we can discuss first day of classes! Do you love them or do they make you feel terribly anxious? In the story, we also get to know to completely different kind of teachers: Miss Honey and Miss Trunchbull. What’s your idea about good and bad teachers?

Please, don’t forget to use the spoilers tags if you are discussing specific events of the book.

[Shiloh Adlar]

The first day of class always makes me anxious, but this last one was the worst for me because I had been on a leave of absence for an entire year. Going back was terrifying, but it all ended up being fine. I have definitely had my share of good and bad teachers, mostly good thankfully. I think what makes a good teacher is one that listens to her/his students and gets to know and understand them, not just who they are and what they like but also their learning styles and how best to communicate with them. When do they need a challenge and when do they need extra help? Then there are the teachers who don't seem to care at all about their students because they're actually sports coaches and all they worry about is the next big game. They let their team members slack off in class because they're "tired" from practice the night before or the game the night before. They need to "prepare" for the big game so they can have their test later. Then there are the teachers who are just oblivious to everything going on or they see it and say absolutely nothing about it.

Miss Honey is definitely one of those good teachers. She not only focuses in on teaching the rest of her class, but she also understands the Matilda needs more because she is gifted and needs a challenge so she doesn't become bored with learning. She wants to help her reach her full potential. Miss Trunchbull is a unbelievable for me, but it is a work of fiction, so I'll roll with it. She's definitely someone who should not be a teacher or working at a school at all. She shouldn't even be working with or around children. Then again, I think there is something psychologically going on in her head because no one can hate children that much and do the things that they do unless they have something going on. At least, that's my belief.

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Matilda has gone from visiting the library on her own to going to school and encounters other children. In these chapters I read about a teacher who I feel is very admirable and intelligent and also about someone who allegedly is in charge but is simply not very believable. (However, yes, I've encountered folks like Miss Trunchbull, albeit not in a school situation). I am glad to notice, in this book, that the spirit of all the students is not crushed, and that there are people like Lavender in Matilda's class.

For me, first days at school were not very difficult because of the small community in which I lived. Since we pretty much all knew each other it was more like going back to a situation where we'd see each other again, just with different teachers. Going to high school was a bit different because suddenly there were a lot more students from a wider area in the classes, and at the school itself -- but even so, the classes in which I found myself had a particular kind of student in it, folks who love to study and do well in class. (It was just very difficult, I thought sometimes, to be in a class with such geniuses as Trina and Jim, whose IQs were up in the stratosphere.) I've had the very good fortune to have some excellent teachers. Folks who encouraged me to use my abilities and learn and explore. We had the 'jock' factor, as Shiloh mentions, but fortunately for the school, the teachers all seemed to be of the opinion that school grades did matter and the students had to legitimately qualify for a team (ie keeping their grades up to the best of their ability). Attention was given to the spirit of the rules, as well as to the 'letter' of it.

[Bull J. Johnson]

I have never had a bad teacher. However, I have had a ton of good teachers. Right now my favorite teacher is Meriot. The only thing I don't like about her is that this teacher is that she makes us do a lot of coloring when I could be doing something more useful. Also I do not like how fast she is going with her geometry lessons, because she is going so fast none of her students even get everything she is teaching, but she keeps going instead of stopping and helping her students catch up. She does not care that we don't understand anything she teaches.