Wow! Who Knew?

The title says it all!

A great teacher is one who brings the lessons to life and makes the students want to be there and want to learn.

I was one of those weird kids who LIKED school. I like learning things.

But I have to admit, two of the best teachers I ever had were music teachers.

The first one was my first year in high school. He didn’t put up with any nonsense in his classroom/bandroom and if you misbehaved, you would much rather your parents find out first; because he could, as they say, tear you a new one. BUT, he was also well respected. One day he told the class that he didn’t care if we ever learned a not of music in his class, but we would learn how to respect other people and their property. There was never any fear of leaving stuff in the bandroom. Like Mr. Blair said, if he put a $10 bill on the piano, he expected that $10 bill to be there when he came back…and it was!

He demanded respect, but he gave it as well. Near the end of the year, the annual banquet had been scheduled. The brother of one of the girls in the band died in a diving accident; Mr. Blair cancelled the banquet and not only attended the funeral, but locked the bandroom so anyone who wanted to go could attend…even if was against school rules.

Over the summer my Dad got transfered, new city, new school, new issues…

Enter Mr. Richardson!

A man of colour in a school in a city that considered you an outsider if your family hadn’t been there for generations and own plantation land.

He too didn’t “put up with any funny business” and demanded respect. Students who thought they could do what they wanted and take advantage of him quickly found out how wrong they were.

When he said to be at the stadium at 6:45pm, we were all there and ready at 6:30pm. We called it Eastern Richardson Time.

But he gave back as well.

After two weeks of working outside in the hot Florida August sun learning marching maneuvers and how to make proper formations, Mr. Richardson thought we deserved a reward…an after hours party/dance. BUT, that was against school rules! Mr. Richardson to the rescue! He told the principal that the band had been bad and as punishment, we would have to give the bandroom a proper scrub down. With mops, buckets, and brooms stacked by the door, we had our party!

But with Mr. Blair and Mr. Richardson, it was not all fun and games, we were in school to learn…and learn we did. But there is a big difference between just learning things by rote and learning things that stick with you and make you want to learn more. That was Mr. Blair and Mr. Richardson.

In school, I hated history because it was nothing but memorizing dates and laws. But when my Dad remarried and my step-mom started digging into our family history – she is a big genealogy nut – things got REALLY interesting. The dates and laws were less important than what some of the people did. I know where I come from and why some things are they way they are – like why I am so drawn to water and the sea. My ancestors were Norsemen.

I once had a math teacher who would tell jokes; especially when the class acted up.

A great teacher isn’t about what they teach, but HOW they teach it and whether or not they can draw the students in and get them interested enough to go out and look further on their own.