Other than the obvious differences in appearance and home life, the were many differences between these two teachers. The both held a different, yet similar style. They both wanted to have their students succeed and tried in their own way to help them along the process. Escalante was relentlessly on their backs pushing them into trying harder. Mac Farland was more of a mentor guiding and helping. They both let the students make up their own mind, but did it in different ways.
I felt that Mr. Escalante led his classroom step by step, at every step. He taught the class as a group, in and out of the classroom. There was lots of lecture with the students working together on a common problem verses reading the large array of books, discussing them and having them write about it. In math, there is a finite answer. With literary works, there is much interpretation. Even papers written from the same book, told to write about specific instances, will yield a wide variety of answers. Although math and English both require a deep understanding, I believe that it is totally different type of understanding. Mr. Mac Farland opened the students minds to different ideas. Ideas that can differ. I believe that a love for reading is far different than a love for math. Imagery, vocabulary, traveling to far off lands can be inserted into the imagination. It can bring a person to places that they would never physically go to in real life.
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