I just got back from teaching a Chautauqua workshop on classroom management in New York City and was reading a recent blogpost by John Richardson that really illustrates the point I was trying to make during the last three days. He asks:
Have you ever been in a class that was so impactful that you came away so excited that you wanted to tell all of your friends about it? Have you had a teacher with the extraodinary talent to keep you totally immersed in the subject, where everything just seems to click? Have you had a teacher take the extra time to find out your needs and to personally help you with a project or assignment?...You walk away from their class excited and with a renewed sense of direction. You want to do the assignments and learn more. All of a sudden learning has gone from laborious and boring to exciting and rewarding.
He goes on to quote William Arthur Ward who says…The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.
Don't we all aspire to be one of those great teachers?
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