Mrs. Borger-Germann Goes Above and Beyond

In Room 1310, there are colorful paintings of monsters from Where the Wild Things Are. There are also two couches, two exercise bikes, and several standing desks. This is the home of English 10 Honors, taught by Alina Borger-Germann, or Mrs. BG.

Mrs. BG says she brought in the additional furniture because students sometimes move around the room. In addition to understanding students’ need to move while they think, she possesses other attributes of an excellent teacher: she is kind, astute, and encouraging. She goes above and beyond to give students the support and feedback they need in order to complete harder-than-average assignments. For example, she often comments on assignments (in Google Documents) instead of only grading them, sharing her own insights. I’ve always appreciated these comments. None of my teachers have given them since elementary school. Mrs. BG also has a laser sharp, verbally playful sense of humor, which often finds its way into serious discussions. The more serious an issue is, the funnier she can be. This makes classes particularly engaging. Another reason Mrs. BG is a great teacher is that she is very efficient with class time. She prioritizes the most important things; her lesson plans always have a clear focus. She can be especially funny in her predictions of exactly the way in which students will react to certain materials, and she plans accordingly.

English is one of my favorite subjects outside of school, but it can sometimes be uninteresting in class. In English 10 Honors, however, I’ve found assignments more flexible than average, adjustable according on students’ interests. I have definitely taken advantage of this to dive deeper into English assignments. Because of this, I’ve learned more in English than in any other subject this year. For example, I became obsessed with my genre research project, and I read five extra books. I would often spend my free time ruminating over literary analysis. Mrs. BG leads class discussions, and we’ve had a number of insightful conversations analyzing literature. I’ve always learned more than I expected during discussions. 

The genre research paper is the most important assignment of English 10 Honors, since it counts for the majority of a student’s 1st and 2nd Trimester grades. Due to a number of inclement weather cancellations, Mrs. BG moved the deadline back a few days. However, the District required all grades to be submitted by 4:00 PM on March 3rd. Mrs. BG was suddenly faced with the prospect of grading around 60 papers (each of which was about nine pages in length) in 24 hours. Despite this, she still took the time to write comments on each individual paper. Overall, I’m very grateful to have had Mrs. BG as a teacher this year.