In my sophomore year of high school I encountered a serious roadblock to the easy path that I had been on. All throughout my freshman year, in all of my honors courses, I never really felt challenged; I never felt that I was pushed to my academic limit. On my first day of school as a sophomore, I met my English teacher. Mr. Yanzek.
Mr. Yanzek is a cranky and sarcastic old man. He is the best teacher I have ever had. In his class I was forced to change my whole perception of the English language. The one thing I will never forget is that Mr. Yanzek taught me to 'play the game.'
His methods were unorthodox at best. In previous years, when essays were assigned, strict guidelines were laid down and adherence to these guidelines was mandatory. Mr. …show more content…
Besides essays, the only thing he graded his classes on was vocabulary tests. These were no ordinaiy vocabulary tests. Mr. Yanzek somehow managed to sort through all the old SAT tests and find the most frequently occurring words. He created his vocabulary lists from these words. We never saw a worksheet or anything else that had been routine in previous years. His tests were split into two sections: one section was antonyms, and the other was analogies. Needless to say, the tests were extremely difficult. When a student would ask Mr. Yanzek for the definition of a non-vocabulary word on the test, Mr. Yanzek would bark a gruff "Play the game!" in reply. It is hard to pinpoint what exactly it was that he meant. He might have wanted us to regard the test as a game and not take it as seriously as we where. He also might have been referring to an actual^game that none of his students were femiliar with. Most likely thought, he wanted to teach his students to use their intuitive reasoning and logical problem solving skiUs-instead of just receiving the answer.
For all my hard work in his class, I was unable to get an A and ended the year with an 88 percent. Looking back I realize that it wasn't about the grade, or even what
Mr. Yanzek is a cranky and sarcastic old man. He is the best teacher I have ever had. In his class I was forced to change my whole perception of the English language. The one thing I will never forget is that Mr. Yanzek taught me to 'play the game.'
His methods were unorthodox at best. In previous years, when essays were assigned, strict guidelines were laid down and adherence to these guidelines was mandatory. Mr. …show more content…
Besides essays, the only thing he graded his classes on was vocabulary tests. These were no ordinaiy vocabulary tests. Mr. Yanzek somehow managed to sort through all the old SAT tests and find the most frequently occurring words. He created his vocabulary lists from these words. We never saw a worksheet or anything else that had been routine in previous years. His tests were split into two sections: one section was antonyms, and the other was analogies. Needless to say, the tests were extremely difficult. When a student would ask Mr. Yanzek for the definition of a non-vocabulary word on the test, Mr. Yanzek would bark a gruff "Play the game!" in reply. It is hard to pinpoint what exactly it was that he meant. He might have wanted us to regard the test as a game and not take it as seriously as we where. He also might have been referring to an actual^game that none of his students were femiliar with. Most likely thought, he wanted to teach his students to use their intuitive reasoning and logical problem solving skiUs-instead of just receiving the answer.
For all my hard work in his class, I was unable to get an A and ended the year with an 88 percent. Looking back I realize that it wasn't about the grade, or even what