Good Teacher

This morning I was thinking about a particular teacher who should not be a teacher. There, I said it. Who am I to toss that judgment out against someone else? Well, for one, I was his student. I was affected by his absolute disregard for students' needs and learning constraints. Secondly, I was his evaluator. I knew that no active learning was going on his class.

So what kind of person should be a teacher? The kind of person who I was fortunate enough to have for two separate classes. This woman was incredible. She connected with her students. She showed, through her instruction and her interactions, that she cared about each student as a person and as a learner. She found a way to get through to every student on a level that made sense to them. She observed her class for comprehension and modified her teaching to ensure comprehension. She made things make sense. She was human - she shared her own stories and thoughts with genuine ease. She made us love her. She created breakthroughs for her students. She gave us confidence in ourselves, confidence in areas we had never before experienced. She showed us how to make sense of our own learning process. She helped us to enjoy not only our time in her classroom, but also the time we spent studying a subject that most of us feared. She inspired us. 

I will always be grateful for having been a student in this woman's classroom. She is an outstanding example of a teacher, but also as a person who positively impacts the lives around her.