AYN RAND with all of her writings!!!!!!!!!!!!

After the following incident with a teacher named Mrs. Aaron in 1st grade, I knew that I would some day be a professor. Mrs. Aaron was a dimwit. After making three mistakes on addition of single digits to single digits (i.e. 9 + 8) in a two-day period, I looked at the other smart kid in the class and asked, "Should I ask to teach the class?" He said, "Go ahead." Knowing that I would get paddled, I went ahead anyway. "Maam, this is the third time in less than two days that you have made simple addition errors. Do you mind if I come up and teach the class?" Needless to say, I got paddled and sent to the principal for being disruptive.

All through the 12 grades of school, I looked upon teachers as the enemy. Even in classes that I loved such as band and orchestra practice. When I went to University, I had to take good old English 101. I was prepared to be bored. The teacher was tall and thin as a spaghetti strand. He had not yet achieved tenure and was therefore designated as a mere "instructor." However, his love for the subject simply overflowed from him. The class was inundated with his love of the subject. After a while he became friendly with me and recognized my facility with words, and we became friends. I helped him research his doctorate and he taught me his love of words and gave me insights into literature that have lasted all my life.

Ms. Gadberry 9th grade Dean Morgan Jr. High in Casper, WY. A little older English lady who made us each Friday stand before the class and present what we had written for that week. Took care of any of us that freaked out in front of an audience. Have presented to as many as 800 at a time since then. God Bless Ms. Gadberry.

I know of only three teachers that really inspired me, unfortunately I didn't have them for long enough for them to help me. In high school I had a Math Teacher(Mr. Betts) who was also the football coach, he taught Geometry which his enthuiasm for it was contagious.
In college there was a History Prof (Claudia Cooke) who kept me spellbound in class. She ended up teaching at another college where I couldn't transfer too. Then senior year, the last semester I had a wild & crazy Prof for Behavioral Statistics. He would come up with the most strange and funny scenario's for teaching statics.
I wish I had more courses with them I would have faired much better in the real world.

I was lucky to have a number of teachers and professors (50's 60' and 70's) that encouraged me, assisted me in additional and separate study, and challenged me to do more. 60 years later and I can remember my 3rd grade and 6th grade teachers as if it was yesterday, for their efforts and following my work into adulthood. Both of them met me later and told me that they found joy and reward in teaching me and aiming my curiosity and desire for learning. I received much the same from a Jr. High Music teacher, an 8th grade Geometry teacher, a 9th grade History teacher, a 12th grade English teacher, a Honers English Professor, several Physics Professors and researchers in College, and my Masters program mentor and guide.

All of those teachers weren't as interested in asking what they thought you should already know or what they taught the day before, but more about what those instructions should be leading us to be thinking and wanting to learn about. I was also lucky to be able to get involved as assistant in some doctoral research projects; in Solar, automated vehicle steering, radar antenna design, and multiplexed seismic signals processing. That allowed me to work with Masters and Doctoral students and the supervising Phd's, as an undergrad.

But in all of that, I eventually determined that it wasn't what they were teaching and instructing, it was aiming and encouraging me to learn how to learn.

A study in contrasts. A truly inspirational professor I had was in Economic Geology at the University of New Hampshire. For a senior level Geology science class to complete the degree it, for some, was not a highly popular class. Environmentalism was on the rise and this class on Ore Deposits according to the young students was just a propaganda class for evil exploitative mining companies. Which is why I was interested and always have been. There were only 5 students enrolled. perfect.

But the prof was great. He had just retired from a 40 year world hopping career with Amax and just taught this class an adjunct professor. He assigned us Park and McDiarmid's "Ore Deposits", a seminal work on the subject. We covered a chapter a week on types of deposits. The chapters went into depth describing major known deposits in the world. Every week he would bring in samples of ore specimens that HE had collected when HE was at that mine! It revealed a lifetime spent working and studying in all corners of the globe. His knowledge and enthusiasm was phenomenal and inspiring.

Now, the contrast. Attending Northern Arizona for a Masters in Geology, I again took Economic Geology. I was doing a thesis in a remote corner of Yavapai County which is heavily mineralized with just about everything. Gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, bismuth, cobalt, uranium, you name it. Very complex. One of my thesis goals was to classify the type of ore deposits that were occurring. But it was not clear, there were too many exceptions.

So, I had a box of specimens and visited the prof to get his input and help. I was all excited and kept handing him specimens with my take on it and what did he think. I slowly became aware that he was not even examining the specimens - he was just kind of limp wristed dropping them back into my box. He noticed my pause, and said "Dave, I don't have much experience in hydrothermal deposits". Well, for metals, about 90% of deposits are hydrothermal deposits. He was useless, wouldn't even go into the field with me. It turns out the Department Chair was willing to become my adviser and would go in the field.

Long story short, the idiot did not get tenure and got fired. He then attempted to set up a consulting business and get into the gold biz in central Arizona. By this time, I had been doing the same for years (recall K's other thread on bizarre jobs) and actually had part ownership in a gold property that had bonafide visible gold in veins. I ran into this idiot in the halls of the USGS where my wife worked and said hi. He asked what I was up to, a little bit of elaboration on my part and then I pulled a specimen from my property out of my jacket pocket that had gold on it. He looked at it, handed it back and said "nice pyrite". Shades of the same old thing!

He saw my expression and doubled back and said "oh, that's gold isn't it?" He couldn't get away from me fast enough. Sorry for the long wind.

I struggled with first year algebra in high school and dreaded geometry as a sophomore. But Mr. Thompson turned all that around. He made math exciting and fun. I went on to college and wound up with a masters in applied math and a PhD in theoretical astrophysics. And I owe it all to my sophomore geometry teacher. A very cool guy.

I don't know if it's exclusive to Detroit Public Schools, but we had no inspiring teachers. They were time-counters who just didn't care.
Some had burnout, some were union-protected hacks who were just out for easy money for no work at all, some were nonexistent (using clueless substitute teachers). And then there were the predators. "Teachers" who got their jollies beating kids (before paddling became illegal), and then there were the pedophiles.
No, no inspiration there.

Well okay, since I don't have any aspirations to run for any public office, and don't plan on starting up a reality show, I guess I can confess to some of my early school days experiences with teachers. I recall in the 50's, the years when spinner hub caps were popular, we had teachers that lost one or more due to falling off or from being stolen. My friends and I would just go out at night to get them a replacement. Those teachers would write us excuses for missing other classes and excuses anytime we were late to another class. It's something that seems like it would be more accepted today than it was then. Please don't scold me now, I realize what the outcome of our ways could have been. Fortunately we quickly grew out of it, we were just too smart to ever get caught. Then we started getting more interested in more troublesome things, like girls.

In reality the only Reseda High teacher I remember by name today is Mr. Warren King. I finished all my required subjects early in the first years of HS, so I had a lot of electives for the final semesters. I took a total of six photography classes, and four of those in my last semester as a student instructor. I breathed and ate photography, it was my only goal in life, to become a professional photographer. Then along came electronics and I spent half my time with it. “He came to teaching after three years as a WWII Signal Corps combat cameraman for the Army and Navy, followed by several years working as a professional photographer in Los Angeles. Mr. King also worked in television as a Director of Photography and a Producer, working on the series Q.E.D. for CBS, and creating more than twenty educational films.” “Warren King, photography instructor, has mentored over 16,000 students during the last 50 (probably 60 or 70 by now) years. Many of Warren's students have gone on to be professional photographers. Many have gone into other professions. But all of Warren's alumni have at least one thing in common. They cite Warren as one of the most influential teachers in their lives. Warren doesn't just teach photography. He teaches his students a new way to see." http://www.phototeach.com/info.htm

I had a physics teacher in Jr. High named Mrs Opp who was a kindly older woman, and who loved physics and loved teaching kids. We looked at that class like it was extended recess, and not another class.

One time she was talking about the effect of what happens when you bite into a piece of tinfoil (like a chewing gum wrapper) and one kid blurted out "yeah, that hurts like hell!" He immediately apologized for using that four-letter-word, and Mrs. Opp paused, and said "no, I think in this case it's OK." Everyone smiled and we kept on going. (Obviously it was a teaching moment, as I remember the whole thing now 40+ years later.)

I did find out that she had her named changed, partly in order to be able to get a job, since her real name was notorious (Oppenheimer). But at the time, I was too young to know any of that stuff.

Mr. Smith during my senior year of high school dared to teach that radical upstart, e e cummings.

Miss Wiggens in grade school for bending the rules on a bet.

I bet her that if she would let me take home the SRA reading materials I could read and pass all the tests before year end. So she bent the rules and let me take the books home. I ultimately won the bet.

P.S. Anyone else remember those SRA booklets and quizzes. I was the only one that filled their entire chart to completion.

It's the "eureka" moments that I appreciate most.

Mathematics 7th grade, Mr Andrews would repeatedly ask "why" after a question he asked was only partially answered (e.g.,when relating the background of how mathematics was conceived.) He encouraged students to share ideas to find an answer and continued to ask until somehow the question was answered. There were frequent "eureka" moments in his class.

Social Studies, 11th grade, Mr Harris insisted on discussing issues beyond the text, and beyond popularly accepted explanations, He asked our opinions, and never just disagreed with our opinions, but insisted on providing reasoning and asked probing questions to reveal other possibilities that the text and the popular media did not present. More than a few left the class more skeptical than when they started.

In hindsight the best teacher I had was Randy Peacock who taught Modern History. I needed another major in high school and hated history - until I took his course. I loved it so much I took a second year. We started with the French Revolution and ended with the Chinese Revolution with pretty much everything in between. This background is why I read so damn many history books. History does repeat itself.
For my career my sixth grade teacher Mrs Clements in California gave me a horse. This started my career path into veterinary medicine.

I had two science teachers that inspired and encouraged me. One woman in junior high school and one man in high school. The man in high school was so good, I signed up for every class he taught and was with him for three years consecutively. On my final day as a senior and after doing so well in his class he excused me early and wished me well. :) I will never forget him. He was all full of encouragement, instead of criticism. I worked so much harder for that praise. Some teachers are awesome. We need more like that.
Edit: P.S. something I am listening to right now I want to share with you K. :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74uhX7vL...
I have been listening to 2CELLOs all day. Beautiful!

In High School, I had a great Calculus teacher. With what he taught me, I placed out of two full years of college Calculus! (test I took after my junior year in HS, and I did Diff Eqs at College my senior year.) Last I knew he was teaching math to prison inmates after retiring.

My favorite professor in undergraduate school was a full professor who ended up getting stuck teaching me statics because a grad student dropped out. He was just awesome. He noted everything you'd learn in statics was the application of two equations: summation of forces is = 0 and summation of moments is = 0. So simple, but the application eludes many. Later as an upper classman, my classmates and I were into cars. He would start every lecture talking cars with us, and after 30 minutes, we'd realize he made the discussion into the lecture. He was very, very good. He taught me all I needed to know was first principles, and I can derive anything else. So right. He was awesome. Armand Dilpare was his name. Great professor in Mech Eng at Florida Institute of Tech.