The jubilant Helen Acosta sat quietly in her office at Bakersfield College going through quizzes her class had just completed minutes before. They were using a new clicker method that apparently took up a lot more time then predicted.
“It took twice the time it takes to take a normal quiz, but it was entertaining and we got through it,” said Acosta. “The students seemed to be having fun laughing.”
She is, according to students, one of the best teachers at Bakersfield College and was voted number one in a poll done by The Rip. Students enjoy her unconventional teaching style and how she includes everyone in the class. But, Acosta hopes it is because she’s not threatening and because she is fun.
“I like to run my class room as a friendly, vociferous, rowdy, fun environment,” she said. “Oh wait, also respectful,” she said with a large smile running from cheek to cheek on the verge of a boisterous laugh.
Acosta, 38, grew up two blocks away from Bakersfield College and would go and play on campus as a kid. At the tender age of 15 she began to take classes at BC while still enrolled at her high school, she took History 17A with a professor Greg Goodwin whom she noted as being exceptionally “great.” She also took swimming and madrigal singers, thinking that someday she would be a music teacher. Unfortunately she couldn’t learn to play the piano. After her history class at BC she took a similar course at her high school that spanned over a whole year.
“It was the biggest waste of my time,” said Acosta. “It was so boring, I got a C in Goodwin’s class, here at BC I got an A.”
After she graduated in 1987, she went on to many colleges including UCLA, Orange Coast City College, Chico State, and eventually received a bachelors and then a masters degree in speech in 1994, from Cal State University of Northridge.
“While I was getting my masters I also taught at L.A. Valley College and was also a forensics coach,” said Acosta.
She comes from a long line of teachers. Acosta has grandparents that were teachers, cousins, and her mom and dad. Her father is what inspired her to become a communication professor, he started at Bakersfield College as well. So, she didn’t feel bad when she decided majoring in music wasn’t her niche.
When she was 25, she was offered a position at BC and figured it was a great reason to go home. Acosta has now been at BC for nearly 13 years.
“I love BC,” she said. “It’s a great place to live, work and play.”
Acosta has not stopped taking classes since she received her masters, she has continued her journey taking classes to improve her teaching abilities and to move up the pay scale.
“I’m already seeing the results of taking those classes in the classroom,” said Acosta with a concerned smile. “Thanks to my new paradigm students are learning more, faster, and in an exciting environment. I love watching students blossom.”
Her new methods include cooperative learning, where students work together to get their answers instead of them relying only on themselves. According to Acosta, being in groups makes students more comfortable giving speeches; they have support teams.
“They develop group communication skills and essential job skills,” she said. “Students are a whole lot less nervous because they’re always working as a team instead of them relying only on themselves.”