I randomly wandered to /r/harrypotter/ and found this thread there that I have need to share with you all.

For additional rage read comments.

 

I don't see how this warranted its own thread, but on the purposes of not shitposting, I will say that the redditor is full of shit, is almost entirely wrong in all accounts and that no, under no stretch or educational concept was Snape a good teacher except as an example to avoid.

 

We have so many discussions about Snape and whether he was good/bad both as a teacher and a human that basing yet another thread off of a reddit discussion seems quite pointless.

 

irregardless

 

Well, it does show that Snape is good at teaching stuff when he isn't trying to teach at all.

Beyond that, this thread seems rather pointless.

 

Fuck, are we running out of threads?

I thought the stupidity of the opinion was quite extraordinary and shared it with you, The Humor Mill didn't seem like a place for it and we don't have a thread for 'Extraordinarily misguided canon opinions'.

 

Making a thread for every stupid and/or ridiculous reddit theory is not a great hobby.

 

To the contrary, Humor Mill seems like the perfect place for this, because it's funny. Notice this redditor calls Voldemort YKW. Fear of the name has this one in such a grasp they must use an abbreviation even for that silly moniker. (S)He has a long way to go. We at DLP, in clever contrast to our collective's name, are enlightened in all matters HP. We should take pity on this lost soul.

 

Well then, thanks. Could a moderator please move this to The Humor Mill?

 

Snape seems the type of teacher who only tries with good students.

Because he himself is so gifted I think he could probably be ok with advanced students, but is shit and hates teaching idiots.

 

He'd be still shit teacher and you'd do well regardless of it. His input (since you're now ignoring him) to your knowledge would be exactly zero—and that's just plain bad teaching.

 

To be slightly fair to Snape, what little we see of transfiguration and charms classes is "here's an incantation, make it work." Further clarification is limited to "don't fuck up or you'll be squashed by a buffalo."

Snape fosters a hostile environment, but his schtick of throwing up a potions recipie and telling them to get on with it isn't exactly against the norms at Hogwarts.

Also, Sesc, Snape would figure you out and replace insults with adressing you by your given name. Or putting potions ingredients *almost* in a logical order.

 

Snape has a genius understanding of potions and obviously had a solid curriculum. It's likely that as far as actual knowledge was concerned that he was a pretty good teacher. His attitude undermining his students in horrendous ways, however is a major teaching flaw.

 

Umbridge commented that his class was 'surprisingly advanced'. Now whether we can trust her judgement or not is an entirely different matter. I, for one, don't think I would have a problem with his teaching methods, sure he is a dick and I probably would bitch a lot about his attitude, but as long as I'm learning and not being singled out like Neville everything would be fine.

 

That post summarizes a running theme in "Severitis" type stories, that clearly its Harry's fault that the person who explicitly hates him for the first three books is to be pitied and clearly its Harry who needs to grow up. I don't understand the logic but it is what it is.

 

I can't find my PS book to make certain, but I think Flitwick spent up until Halloween going over theory and he also demonstrated the wand movements for the Levitation Charm. Harry mentioned McGonagall going over things as well in HBP when he says that everything was so confusing even Hermione had to ask for clarification. I think there's examples of her going over things in PS and POA as well. We see evidence of Sprout, Lupin, and even Crouch Junior clarifying things.

 

That's not really an argument for Snape being a good teacher, rather one for everyone on Hogwarts' staff lacking in teaching skills.

Personally, I don't think Snape was a good teacher. Attitude is a part of any job.

Compare to a surgeon who leaves the operating room. He did his best, but the patient died. He goes to the family and is like, "Sorry, he's dead." And then he turns and just leaves. Hey, he did his part, right?

It's great when your teacher is knowledgeable and skilled. But if he hardly gives a shit, is he a good teacher? Hey, he's doing his part, right? He says what's what, what goes where and why. If he does it with a sour face or he puts you down, that's your problem.

In my subjective opinion, no, Snape wasn't a good teacher, though I would say it was largely a function of his being a shitty person.

 

ashland

Which is why I didn't mention them.

If evidence regarding Flitwick and McGonagall proves to be correct, I shall retract. But my memory is more "incantation is X, wand movement is Y, practice it on the object in front of you."

ScottPress

Sure. But it perhaps says more of the wizarding society's views on teaching than the individual in question.