Describe the best teacher you ever had.

[Pale Blue Dot]

What made them special? What effect did they have on you? What was the most valuable thing you learned from them?

[Haole Girl]

1. He was amazing...

It was advanced English. His name was Mr. Gerry. He challenged us-- taught us dozens of new vocabulary words each day. One day he asked us to put our heads down on our desks (I can still imagine the smell, as I remember it) and listen to Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture. He opened our minds and hearts to worlds many of us would have never known. I shudder to think where I would have ended-up without his guidance and love.

[skygazer]

2. I had two

One was my ninth grade English teacher. This guy managed to teach The Odyssey to ninth grade students every year and EVERY ONE of them read it. And enjoyed it.

He was wonderful. He was so enthusiastic about the story and he brought it alive. He made it relevant to us by comparing it with other things all teeenage kids enjoy - adventure tales and that sort of thing. He compared the Lotus Eaters to potheads, he made the Gods seem like real people, he brought the whole thing to life and we couldn't wait to get to the next chapter.

When we finished the book, we had a big toga party on a Friday. Everyone brought in Greek food and shared it and we watched a movie about a guy who sailed around the Mediterannean looking for all the sites in the Odyssey.

I liked him so much I worked as a teaching assistant in his class for the rest of my high school career.

edited to add that I still read the Odyssey about once a year. :)

The other teacher was a Creative Writing teacher and he's the one who got fired - I told an abbreviated version of the story in the school punishment thread (I organized a walkout in protest). He was ahead of his time (this was the 70's). He allowed us to actually be creative and to expand our writing to touch on controversial subjects. He had great, innovative ideas and the administration couldn't handle it.

If I ever get around to writing that book in my head, it will be dedicated to both of them.

[DS1]

3. Jason Giannetti. Philosophy professor for two courses

I was 'the' older student in one of his classes, and he used me as his whipping post because I would fire right back. There was a level of respect between us that no other teacher/prof had reached, he didn't bullshit me and I didn't bullshit him. One time I didn't show up during a summer course, during our scheduled meeting a few weeks later - something he did with all the students to find out where they were with the course, what they thought of it, etc - he asked me why I didn't show up. And I said "You know, this entire course has been about finding your own personal happiness. I stepped out the door of my house, into the most amazingly beautiful day in years, and decided it would make me happy to skip class and enjoy it. So I went out and did things that made me happy." He smiled and said "Very good."

Actually going to his courses was the spiritual equivalent of going to church, because he talked about all the different philosophies and interpretations of the meaning of life, and it was just a lot of fun. He's a guy I'd help move if he called.

The school shit-canned him after the next semester, it's not a school known for brilliant students but it is cheap - hardly anyone was doing their work so lots of them failed. That was deemed to be his fault.

I hate that fucking school.

/edit typos

[Jade Fox]

4. Two...

I had one great Spanish teacher in high school who introduced me to the idea of multi-culturalism, and one very conservative Social Studies teacher in 8th grade who galvanized my politics in opposition to his.

[nini]

5. She was demanding, strict and explained things to a 'T'

She showed no mercy with grades and told us the work world won't tolerate mistakes so she won't either.

She rocked and I had the chance to thank her years later for instilling discipline in my work. She had tears in her eyes as she thanked me for saying that since she usually just hears whining.

If all teachers were as good as her the country would not be dumbed down one bit!

[WritingIsMyReligion]

6. She was divine. Absolutely divine. My favorite.

When I was in 6th grade I used to think she went home to a god every night, and ate ambrosia and had veins of ichar. How could she be elsewise?

I had the extremely good fortune to have her for the same class for all three years of middle school. It was my gifted/talented class, actually, in literature. It was amazing. It didn't feel like school at all--it felt like fun.

I wrote this about her last year on a similar thread:

"My favorite teacher ever, who I highly doubt will ever be "replaced" by another favorite, was my honors literature teacher in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. This woman is just kick-ass. I mean, you have to be funny to successfully teach certified gifted children, and she was so riotously funny. But what was more--she treated us like people, not just students, and we were always her equals, in a sense. Everyone adored her, just adored her, mostly because she was too smart--and too good at teaching--to not like. I mean, she gave as good as she got--I love teachers with personality, and she did not lack that. At all.

But the best thing that she ever did for me was to get me started writing. She inspired my first-ever piece of fiction, because she told me that I was good at it. She showed me that I was a natural, someone bright, and she always tells me that someday I'm going to be famous. It's hard to believe that sometimes, but I don't ever forget how she told me that. I don't think I would have the courage, or the determination, to call myself a writer had I not met her."

If you want the definition of a person brave enough to love you, as an imperfect little wretch in some of the roughest years of anybody's life, for who you are, she is it. I still see her all the time, and it makes me happy beyond words to see and feel that she is still, somehow, there. Not an ambrosia-devouring goddess, but something much more real--a brave, strong, excellent soul in a sea of mediocrity.

[Xipe Totec]

7. Pat Crofts. Don't think my answer will ever change.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=5071164#5071530

[Deja Q]

8. 8th Grade English teacher - she thought I'd become a well known comedian.

She was a very good teacher, but unless I can overcome some inherent difficulties, her hope/wish will not become a reality. :(

[Redstone]

9. Enid Baker, 11th-grade English. Crotchety spinster, beat the HELL out of me about writing.

She wanted me to write for a living SO bad. She even offered to pay my way if I'd go the the Breadloaf Writer's Conference. I do hope that it would make Miss Baker happy to know that I do get paid for writing, even though it's only part of what I do for a living.

Redstone