My teacher for AP Calculus BC was the biggest jackass in the world.
He was one of the few teachers in my school that would actively rag on you for being stupid about something, and his lectures went at such a pace that it made people cry from the difficulty.
When he graded tests, he would obnoxiously laugh and call out mistakes certain students made, and poke at the horrible grades everyone got.
He set up the room in a way that resembled the
panopticon - he sat
behind us in the room, closest to the door, and we all faced away from his desk, so none of us knew when he was really in the room without risking meeting his condescending glare. He was probably actually in the room less than half the time that other teachers were on average, yet the atmosphere made it seem like he was
always watching.Not a single damned person went through his class without absolutely despising him at some point.
And he was the best damned teacher I ever had.The pace of his lectures prepared us for the pacing that college curriculums went at, and his lessons were completely intuitive. They trimmed the fat and got straight to the best way it could be explained - something extremely important for a college-level calculus class.
His demeanor and teaching style pushed everyone to try their damned hardest and not take anything for granted. Where other teachers were approachable, friendly, and lenient, he gave off an aura of
fear that effectively made students work harder, if only to have leverage over him during inevitable confrontations.
He was actually an awesome guy, as well, when not teaching class; he was our school's basketball coach. Almost unanimously, excluding the ones who failed the class, we all believed he was one of the best damned teachers in ever, and I still stand by that
especially in light of the far more convoluted and unintuitive teaching styles of my college calculus professors.
