I really like your article and the new idea that you proposed. I never thought that straight-A students need more care from the teacher. I even thought that they need less care since they’re better than the others. But what you said definitely makes sense and teachers need to take it into consideration.

I liked the article, especially that last sentence. I believe that an educator’s main purpose is to challenge himself while preparing every class in order for the class to stimulate the student’s creativity and let him grow personally while learning.

Very good point Metch! I really enjoyed reading Sarah Deel’s article and found her realization of being herself excellent! I believe it is very important to be yourself, in order to project all you want to transmit. This will definitely make the classroom a better place.

Hi, Ashish, thanks for brought up the dialogue between students and instructor into the discussion. I totally agree with you. A candid conversation with students about our background starts with a candid conversation with ourselves. This authentic teaching provides more opportunity for both students and instructors to learn from each other.

Ha, that’s a great platform! I too enjoy Dr. Who. One of the things that I see in the Doctor is his willingness to let humans (students) go about their own business until help is really needed. I think that I would have one of my own categories be “To inspire curiosity.” To be more like the Doctor, I would lead by example and help students to go on their own until they needed my help. I recently found out I will get to teach one of my favorite courses in the spring and have been thinking of ways that I could infect the students with my curiosity. Maybe that is more of what Sarah Deel was talking about when she said that she saw an advantage to bringing more or yourself to the class.

I won’t ask you which Doctor, but what in teaching would be the equivalent of a Dalek?

I completely agree. Faking it won’t last long and people will notice it. Being yourself is the best way to do anything and be good at it, especially if you’re a teacher. But also challenging yourself from time to time in order to be better and try new ways is also very encouraged.

I agree with your ideas. Even though you are a teacher, you should have your passion to be yourself when you are teaching.

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Yes, I always have a great time during and after teaching… although, sometimes I would like make some students open their eyes much quicker than they do (for the lack of saying something violent).
I got the worldle from tagxedo.com. You can personalize the shape and also set the statistics used to determine the resulting words, I loved it! I ended up trying this site because wordle.net did not want to work for me at all.

Some of the best classes I’ve had in the past were taught by goofy playful teachers and some others by stern glasses-on-the-nose types. I don’t really think it matters as long as there is effective communication of the subject matter in the most natural matter possible. Students can sense right away if the professor has a good control of the class and this (in my opinion) is related to how well the professor is able to be his/her natural self. There is nothing worse than having a reserved professor try to act funny all the time. The result would be infinite corniness. Bottom line to me would be to be who your are and present your materials in your natural self.

Sarang, Excellent blog! You define several of the professors I have encountered during my studies and bring excellent points. Relating to your own experiences is great, if they have had similar experiences, they can use that previous knowledge to build upon the new material. I really like how you bring this painting, it really mirrors some classrooms today!!!