WHAT TEACHING IS ALL ABOUT

Nearly everyone has a story about the moment when a teacher changes the course of your life. A good teacher, after all, wields the authority of a parent with none of the psychological baggage. The best of them are semi-mysterious figures whose wisdom seems boundless and whose approval helps us discover who we are. Teaching isn’t about charismatic speeches or dramatic failures. It’s about managing classrooms full of kids at very different places intellectually, emotionally, and psychologically. Most of all, it’s about the thousands of small acts of attention, of encouragement and guidance and discipline, by which teachers transmit their passion for learning. Standing before a class, you have to portray your best self – fair, patient, wise – for hours on end. You don’t always see the complete impact of your best work. You witness a few initial sparks, not the full flame of knowledge it can ignite within a student. Do you have good stories of great teachers you can share? Let's hear them.