Some Thoughts About Teachers
I truly believe that a great teacher can shape your life. When I was in highschool I was good in most subjects - sciences, English, math, art (not so much French!). I chose to pursue science because of one great biology teacher.
A few thoughts about a few great teachers.
Grade 11 Biology Teacher
He was great because he was so enthusiastic and so darn nice. He would come to class early to draw huge elaborate multi-colour chalk drawings of whatever we were studying. He wore his pig tie for dissection day and he was the first person to teach me about evolution. A topic that has facinated me since. He also had a disclaimer about evolution vs. religion that I thought was simple and brilliant. He himself was religious (I am not) and he likened evolution to baking a cake. He believed that God made man but what if he made us the way we would bake a cake - put all the ingredients together and let it bake - coming out a cake at the end. Maybe God put all the ingredients together and evolution is like us baking and maybe we just aren't 'done' yet.
1st Year University Calculus
Who finds calculus exciting? No one unless you're my first year calculus prof. He was like a little Santa Claus talking a mile a minute. It was hard for his enthusiasm to not be infectious. When we would do a test he and his T.A.s (poor teaching assistants) woudl spend all night marking to get them back to us the next day because he didn't want us to have to wait for his feedback!
4th Year University Developmental Biology and Teratology (Dr. Brown)
A great teacher and a smart man. Our class was small - 10 students - and we got to shape and mould what we learned. He could move in any direction of our interest. He came up with field trips for us and let us do our own experiments. We all became fast friends and even went to one of his barbershop quartet (!) performances. At the end of the year we had a wonderful goodbye party and he was my reference for my master's degree. He made me feel like I could succeed at anything.
The teacher who got me thinking about all this - this is for him:
I truly believe that a great teacher can shape your life. When I was in highschool I was good in most subjects - sciences, English, math, art (not so much French!). I chose to pursue science because of one great biology teacher.
A few thoughts about a few great teachers.
Grade 11 Biology Teacher
He was great because he was so enthusiastic and so darn nice. He would come to class early to draw huge elaborate multi-colour chalk drawings of whatever we were studying. He wore his pig tie for dissection day and he was the first person to teach me about evolution. A topic that has facinated me since. He also had a disclaimer about evolution vs. religion that I thought was simple and brilliant. He himself was religious (I am not) and he likened evolution to baking a cake. He believed that God made man but what if he made us the way we would bake a cake - put all the ingredients together and let it bake - coming out a cake at the end. Maybe God put all the ingredients together and evolution is like us baking and maybe we just aren't 'done' yet.
1st Year University Calculus
Who finds calculus exciting? No one unless you're my first year calculus prof. He was like a little Santa Claus talking a mile a minute. It was hard for his enthusiasm to not be infectious. When we would do a test he and his T.A.s (poor teaching assistants) woudl spend all night marking to get them back to us the next day because he didn't want us to have to wait for his feedback!
4th Year University Developmental Biology and Teratology (Dr. Brown)
A great teacher and a smart man. Our class was small - 10 students - and we got to shape and mould what we learned. He could move in any direction of our interest. He came up with field trips for us and let us do our own experiments. We all became fast friends and even went to one of his barbershop quartet (!) performances. At the end of the year we had a wonderful goodbye party and he was my reference for my master's degree. He made me feel like I could succeed at anything.
The teacher who got me thinking about all this - this is for him:
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
johntravolta:
What did he sing in the quartet? Baritone?
miss_joy:
That I don't remember - I do remember he wore a funny costume and had on makeup (which freaked me right out!)