We believe Mr. Kanter is an effective teacher and one of the best at CSMS. He’s engaging, motivating, and provides opportunities for creativity. He helps students grow and prepares them for the future.

He teaches important life skills students can use later in life. He teaches presentation skills to 7th graders in Computer Applications by having them complete a TED Talk project. Knowing presentation skills is important when they have to present in high school, college, and business.

Mr. Kanter also helps students develop problem solving abilities. He tells students to first try to solve their problem, then look it up online, then ask other students, and only come to him as a last resort. Problem solving habits will be important for students in the future when they won’t have teachers to solve their problems.

He also teaches students about copyright laws and fair use during many photography and movie projects. He wants students to use music in their movies. They need to know copyright laws if they make something in the future, like music, photos, art, etc and they don’t want it plagiarized, reproduced, or pirated. Students will also need to learn about copyright laws so they are careful not to infringe on other artists. Students who want to be lawyers, YoutTubers, remixers, artists, critics, content creator, or go into business need to know what Mr. Kanter is teaching. Students will be glad in the future when they have these skills and information thanks to Mr. Kanter.

Students know what types of mindsets they can have, “growth” and “fixed,” and Mr. Kanter makes students reflect on their work and strategies used almost every day. This is done through a “Growth Journal.” This is important because if students reflect on what they did, they can figure out how to improve. Mr. Kanter will approach students with a “fixed mindset” on multiple days and ask them how they can change to a “growth mindset.” Students have to reflect and it makes them feel more motivated to have a “growth mindset.”

Mr. Kanter uses slides, videos, and pictures when he teaches something. Slides, videos, and pictures actually make you want to listen to him and learn the topic. During one lecture about how to grab someone’s attention, he used a picture of a guy in a pickle suit on one of the slides. This made students more engaged. Since Mr. Kanter’s slides are excited, students feel less bored and pay more attention to Mr. Kanter.

The way he motivates students is impressive. He tells people to go above and beyond the criteria for success and applauds students who do. This keeps students keeps continually going above and beyond. One day he asked students, “Do you care about this class?” and “Do you put effort in this class?” This made students think about themselves and inspired them to improve. Since Mr. Kanter wants to motivate students, it also shows that he deeply cares about his students.

Most important, he lets students be creative. Most of his projects leave a lot of room for imagination. 7th grade students can put whatever they want on their slides as long as it looks visually pleasing and is similar to what they are presenting about. 7th grade students who choose to make a P.S.A. can make any skit they want as long as it’s appropriate and follows the criteria for success. They can make an animated or live action version, the possibilities are endless. Students who choose to make a documentary can pick the topic, shots to take, people to interview, and ways to edit as long as it was appropriate and followed the criteria for success.

His criteria is almost never too specific. The criteria for the P.S.A. and documentary includes “a mix of purposeful shots” and, “a mix of different shots and angles.” It’s pretty vague and never says exactly what to shoot. Students have a lot of choice on his projects. This makes students feel happier and more enthusiastic about projects because they can be very imaginative instead of having to follow a straight forward criteria that doesn’t allow flexibility.

Mr. Kanter makes students feel more engaged, motivated, and prepared for the future. He helps students grow and lets students use their imaginations. Mr. Kanter is clearly an effective and talented teacher.