“I have a hot date tonight...I bet you guys wish you could ‘meter’,” Mr. Rosa joked at the beginning of class one day. My physics teacher, Mr. Rosa tells the worst jokes I’ve ever heard and then laughs quietly to himself about them. That’s what makes him so funny.
I took physics as a sophomore thinking, Oh boy...this class will be hard, let’s just get it over with now. I’ve never been very good at math or science. I’m more the artistic type. I figured physics class would make my life a nightmare, but Mr. Rosa was constantly making plays on words and terrible jokes. He knew how to make the class enjoyable—at least, for me.
Mr. Rosa is the type of teacher who likes to stand in front of the class and lecture. I listened closely because he makes quick jokes or sarcastic comments that I could only hear if I paid close attention. I don’t know if he did this on purpose to get us to listen, but whether it was intentional or not, I payed attention. This way of lecturing kept me interested and laughing, while learning a lot from his comical applications of physics to real life. I never would’ve thought I could find a class like physics so entertaining.
Not only is Mr. Rosa funny, but he also understands the work ethic of individuals. Every year, the physics classes do a project in the spring after taking a trip to Six Flags to collect data. After the trip, my group and I made an agreement to come in after school the day before our presentation to get help and advice from Mr. Rosa. My group didn’t show up, so I worked on it alone. When Mr. Rosa came in and saw me struggling, he came over to talk to me. While going through the presentation, we realized some of the numbers had been applied the wrong way. He surprised me by telling me not to change the whole presentation, but to only change the part that was my own.
The next day, when we presented, my group was confused and didn’t understand why my data was so different from theirs. Mr. Rosa asked a question, but before I could answer it with the correct response, he stopped me. He said, in front of the whole class, “I know Kylee knows the right answer. I want to know who else in the group can tell me it.” I was embarrassed, but so grateful that he understood how much work I had done and that he was willing to acknowledge that the group hadn’t helped at all. I got a B on the project. The rest of my group didn’t.
Mr. Rosa was my favorite teacher because he is funny and interesting when he teaches and I can tell he enjoys the subject. I also think he deserves recognition because he gives recognition to others for the hard work they put in to his class. He understands how students individually learn and work and he caters to their needs. He’s a good teacher and I thank him for teaching me, even though I’m still not good at math or science. Or physics.