Sophomore year quickly approached and I asked my older sisters about the teachers I had for the coming year.  They looked at me worried, “You have biology with Mr. Bisbee all year? Goodluck.” I was a little confused. First day of school, fifth hour I walked into his class skeptical, but I was fine because most of my friends had him throughout the day.

As the semester went on, I understood why my sisters told me good luck. This class had more work than any other class I’ve had, studying and memorization was involved but that’s what biology is. Sadly, memorization was the big guard at the entrance of my chances at getting a good grade in his class.  

Mr. Bisbee had the perfect ideas to combat this problem with students. We often did of labs, activities, coloring and even dancing. He did whatever it took to memorize how a cell reproduces. But if you never participated in these activities or studied, his class would be impossible. Everyone seemed to enjoy his class because he would walk in looking around and nodding. He would always look at his students, nod and say “Mr.” or “Mrs.” then their last name. This made each student feel noticed and valued.

Second semester, we learned about mitosis and the XX and XY chromosomes.  And it was confusing, but I had a basic idea of what they were. Mr. Bisbee always said, “college students memorize things from different ways like coloring, so we’re going to dance.” So one day Mr. Bisbee brings in two of his chickens and some hay, has tape on the ground separating the class four ways, and puts every the desks at the edge of the classroom so the middle was an open area. Everyone in my class was completely confused and wondered what could we possibly be doing this time. Mr. Bisbee in his greatest farmer outfit walked in nodding and asked if everyone was ready for the, “mitosis square dance.” To this day I remember the steps of mitosis: Interphase, Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase. This is what made Mr. Bisbee special, he went the extra step to help his students.

Going through this square dance of a year, I learned how much a teacher can ignite a flame of passion for a student. I learned how to write a quality scientific paper (much harder than anything I have had to write). But I learned more than just cells and small stuff. I also learned about animals in their environment and how they affect the living things around them. I learned how to study, memorize and learn the material. But most importantly, I learned not to listen to my sisters.