Assignment for class

Think back on your favorite teachers and what common qualities do they all possess?  What was it that made them stand out above all the rest?  Why do you remember their names and not necessarily the name of you 4th period science teacher from sophomore year?  Unfortunately, there is no formula for the perfect teacher.  Since we are all different people, it stands to reason that our teaching styles are going to be different, therefore potentially different learning experiences for our students.  So what makes one teacher more successful than others? 
In my experience, a great teacher is one that is relateable and therefore approachable.  One cannot have a rewarding learning experience if they don't feel like they can approach the teacher with or without classroom assignments. As a student, I need to know that I can come to my teacher with any questions regarding assignments and especially with questions as to why I got an answer wrong, or a certain grade on an assignment.  I need to feel that I'm not going to be talked down and that I will be treated with a certain amount of fairness and respect. 
Similarly, a teacher needs to have some compassion.  Where would be if all teachers talked down to us, and made us feel stupid for getting the wrong answers, or maybe not learning as quickly as some of the other students?  I know I had a particularly difficult time with algebra, but I also had an excellent teacher, who helped me after class and patiently answered all my questions until I mastered the theories.  Without his compassion, I probably would have given up altogether and not done so well in his class.  We all make mistakes and we are all at different levels, and the compassionate teacher knows this and uses it to help, not hinder.
Lastly, a teacher needs to have a certain passion for their subject.  I remember the teachers who obviously didn't't care, and the ones who seemed bitter and angry to be in the classroom in the first place.  Whether it was dance, history, music, or English, my best teachers were once who seemed to live and breath their subject.  These types of teachers make learning fun, or at the very least, interesting, even if it wasn't't your strongest or best subject.  I decided to major in history because of some wonderful history teachers who made the subject seem more like storytime than an actual class.  And that passion is something that will never go away.  I get lost in the historical section of the bookstore every time, because there's still so much more to learn.
A great teacher must be many things, but hopefully we all find our best qualities and use them to the advantage of the student. 
"The mediocre teacher tells.  The good teacher explains.  The superior teacher demonstrates.  The great teacher inspires."  ~William Arthur Ward

Updates

So, its been a couple weeks, and boy what a couple weeks its been! I've been to 2 concerts, ran another race, and finished my first graduate course, among other things. 

Tricia came out and definitely didn't get to see her enough.  But she went with Drea and I to our race in San Diego.  This one was much more fun than the last one.  It was called the ridiculous obstacle course, and it was, well, ridiculous.  Like, ridiculously funny.  The first obstacle course was these guys dressed as mexican wrestlers hitting us with those jousting sticks while some other people were blowing bubbles at us.  Yeah, ridiculous.  I did all the obstacles except one.... :( .  Apparently my fear of heights is worse than I thought.  We had to climb a ladder and then walk across a platform and go down a fireman's pole.  I simply couldn't do it! I tried a couple times, and even let a few people ahead of me, but I couldn't do it.  I had to walk down the stairs all by myself and I'm pretty sure I was the only one.  :(

Anyways, it was a fun race, and even more fun to spend the day with Tricia and Ami.  We got lunch after and then had mature adult conversation about politics and religion on the way home. (That was the day of the Rapture, by the way, and yeah, we all know how that turned out!)

 Before...

After...with our hard earned beers.... =)

So last Friday, I went to the Glee concert with Tricia and Drea.  I know, we're nerds, but the show is really great people.  It was a lot of fun, and pretty much just one giant sing-a-long.  I don't remember the last time I had so much fun.  

The Warblers!  On a little mini-stage in the middle of the audience, pretty much right in front of us. 

 

 

 

Not the best quality but pretty sure this was all of them 

 

A perfect night...except...oh yeah, I lost my wallet!!!!  OMG I have no clue how it happened.  I distinctly remember bringing it back to my seat (cuz I had taken it to buy a shirt) and Tricia remembers that too.  I also remember sitting down to reach under my seat and put it in my purse.  I also remember zipping my purse up but the most accepted theory is that the wallet may not have made it to the purse before I zipped it up.  Of course, I don't realize this until we're a block away from Drea's house, so Tricia and I drop her off and we head back to the Honda Center.  What a great friend!  There were a ton of people cleaning and one nice guy guided us to someone who could help.  We sat in the little guard booth fro about 20 minutes while they sent someone to where we were sitting to see if it was there.  Of course, it was not.  The nice lady said that the cleaning crew doesn't turn things in until they're done, so she gave me the number to call when they were open again to see if that's what happened.  But guess what last weekend was....MEMORIAL WEEKEND!!!  Meaning I wouldn't get to talk to anyone until 10am Tuesday morning.  I got home and cancelled my cards at about 2am.  Lovely end to my evening.  There wasn't much money in there, but still.  Ever have your wallet go missing?  I felt naked! No credit/debit cards, no ID, no immediate access to money since the banks were closed all weekend too.  Really put a damper on my weekend, that's for sure. 

Made the best of it though, and went to Big Bear with my mom the next day.  Very nice, but very cold! And she bought me a present, I think to make me feel better about the whole wallet thing.

Isn't she awesome?

I collect Barbie dolls, so this isn't such an odd present.  Plus, I love Marilyn Monroe, and have wanted this Barbie for quite awhile now.  So yeah, nice gift  I also found this amazing vintage wedding dress that I absolutely loved but couldn't justify buying.  It wasn't super frilly, or "wedding"-y really, totally could have passed for a white cocktail dress or something, and it was my size!!  But I didn't have $45, plus, I didn't think I could justify it, I mean, I normally hate white, so why buy a white dress?  I'll be sure to bring that much next time I go up tho, just in case it's meant to be.... ;)

So, Tuesday morning, I wake up early on my own, no alarm or anything.  Of course.  I literally am counting down the minutes to 10am and believe I actually dialed at 9:59 because I couldn't take it anymore.  I talked to another very nice lady, explained the situation, and after a short hold came back to ask, "What does it look like, dear?" Now, these words alone, gave me an infinite amount of hope, because she would have just said, "No," if no wallets were turned in.  But I didn't want to get my hopes up too much so I told myself that maybe I'm not the only lame-o who loses their wallet at concerts.  Anyways, I described it and told her my ID and credit/debit cards were in there with my name and she says, "Yup, we have it." 

Music to my ears!!!!

Waited allllllll weekend hoping and praying that someone good and honest found my wallet and she confirmed that there are still good people in this world.  All money, cards, movie passes, Starbucks card and coupons were still in there.  They were also very organized because I had to sign about 3 papers before they would release it back to me, and it seemed they had inventoried everything in it.  Sucked, because I had cancelled all my cards already but a minor inconvenience to have my wallet and ID back, which was what I really wanted all along.  So, thank you to the wonderful person who returned my wallet....Blessings and good karma to you!!!

So that pretty much brings me up to date!  Tricia went back to Washington this morning, so we said our goodbyes yesterday.  Sad, but its ok cuz I know we'll continue to talk, text, and send each other flowers from our wonderful flower app!  <3  Also found out today that I got an A- in my first graduate class.  Definitely a good motivator for the next one.