Opinion

Tribute to a Favorite Teacher: Mr. Weiss

Marissa Howell
March 20, 2017

Learning to read and understand mental and physical behaviors of those around you can be difficult and even take years to do on your own, but with the help of our very own Mr. David Weiss, learning such things is possible in just a year.

Mr. Weiss is the head Psychology teacher here at Tallwood, teaching both AP Psych and regular Psych (broken into two semester portions). Many students hear of Mr. Weiss’ zany and wacky antics. Personally, I heard about him my very first year at Tallwood from two Seniors in my lunch. They talked about the things they would do in class, or, to be specific, things he would do in class.

This short, eavesdropped-upon conversation was what sparked my drive to get into his Psychology class in the first place. I wanted to get to see first hand why he is many students’ favorite teacher. After three years of trying, my wish was granted in Senior year; I was enrolled in Psych 1, and boy was I thrilled.

On the first day of school, when the classes are typically a bunch of blah blah fundamentals of school procedures, Mr. Weiss managed to even make that fun. For once I was in a class, other than art, that I enjoyed.

The thing that makes Mr. Weiss such a good teacher is his ability to understand, a key trait great teachers have. He doesn’t get caught up in having to be the authority figure over us for ninety minutes and actually uses his psychology training to know why we students do the things we do. Mr. Weiss teaches to the individual, and I think that makes for a happy and safe classroom.

For example: when you appear to not be paying attention, he doesn’t get all flustered because you look inattentive; Mr. Weiss simply prompts you with a question to see if you are in fact paying attention. If you are, he goes about his lesson and doesn’t skip a beat. This simple action allows for our class to run smoothly and with little to no hiccups in the education process.

Also, in my personal experience, my brain is fast paced, and I work typically quite fast and get bored easily. Usually when I get bored, I tap or play a game on my phone. Now, to most teachers, this is me outright not paying attention to the lesson or whatever is going on in class. This is far from the truth. Within a week of school’s start, Mr. Weiss figured out my behavior and, instead of giving me a nasty look, he simply put a brain teaser game in front of me to work on during my boredom spells. That little activity helps me stay focused on notes, worksheets, and lots of other activities. Plus, it saves my battery life on my phone from not playing as much Imessage pool.

Another thing that Mr. Weiss does to form relationships with students is share stories about himself. Yes, I understand that all teachers may have stories of their own, but many choose not to share them. Mr. Weiss is open about his business and actually allows students to get to know him on a slightly more personal level. This makes sharing in class a heckuva lot less scary because, if you feel comfortable with your teacher, opening up with your peers is easier. He jokes about past events that have happened to him in class and always has a kind word to say about past students.

Mr. Weiss is an outstanding teacher and just an all around good person. He has inspired me to choose Psychology as my major in college as. He deserves a happy and fulfilling retirement and will be sorely missed by everyone at Tallwood High.

See the links below for stories from the March 22 issue of The Roaring Gazette.

News

GSWLA Holds First Ever Academy Ball by Cassidy O’Neal

Cujardo vs. Pi(e) by Ariana Hernandez

Drama Students to Debut Hairspray this Month by Elena Day

Sports

Tallwood Track Shines at Indoor Nationals by Richard Ruffin

Boys’ Soccer Looks Ahead by Dylan Klepk

Tennis Prepares for Spring Season by Tyler Dennis

Features

Meet a Lion: Ms. Vera Dozier by Ophelia Reid

Opinion