SED - Day 14 - Lots of Navel Gazing And A Special Request

[teddy_radiator]

TheHubs™ and I were driving to work when we had one of our deeply philosophical discussions about teachers. He was telling me about two of his teachers in school. One was an English teacher and one was a Drama teacher. He spoke of how their passion for their subjects really inspired him and fired his imagination. It occurred to me as we were talking that I had had no such luck in high school. My teachers were so dry as to be flammable. I don't recall one single one of them truly in love with their subject; they did their hours and left. Even my choral teacher, whom I loved, really never brought any true excitement or passion to the table. No one else seemed to really care whether or not we learned anything of their given subject; the only excitement and passion I found in their classrooms was what I brought with me.

I wonder how many people feel this way - and how many of you can recall a high school teacher who stayed hungry, who wanted to ignite a fire in their students? I feel positively left out.

On to a more aggravating subject. Can anyone tell me the best way to format in email, specifically gmail? Several of the agents I am contacting state that they want the manuscript sample included on the email, and not an attachment. One in particular wants double spaced, and I'm just having too much trouble doing it in a way that is both legible and readable. Does anyone have any suggestions for ways to make my email behave a little more like a Word document? I would be ever so grateful for any suggestions. I'm a little stuck here.

Comments

[akatnamedeaster.livejournal.com]

how many of you can recall a high school teacher who stayed hungry, who wanted to ignite a fire in their students? I feel positively left out.

Not me. I distinctly got the impression that all of my teachers were doing just enough to make it to the end of the year with as little fuss/fights/classroom knife play, as possible.

Oh there were some interesting ones. My 12th grade AP English teacher who was the ultimate Dickens fanboy, so Dickens was pretty much the entire curriculum and we spent a lot of days just listening to him reminisce about his trips to England. So while he was passionate about his subject, it wasn't at our behest or for our benefit, but rather, "this is what I'm interested in and you're a captive audience! Now pay attention since this will be on the test!"

The other was my commercial art teacher who didn't really teach us much, but rather would come in reeking of weed, and then sit at his desk doing wood carvings of naked women in boots (I'm sure he must have worked on other subjects but he really had a thing for naked women wearing boots, at least, that's what sticks in my head all these years later.) while playing classic rock tapes on the boombox he kept in class. We were pretty much left alone screw around with the airbrushes, and the early-era Apples (and in one poor, unfortunate soul's case, huff rubber cement out of a paper bag behind the the air brush partition) in a completely unfettered fashion, while listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. That was fun. But I don't think I'd use the word passion to describe any of it.

Well, maybe the carvings of naked women in boots, there was a lot of passion in those.


So many edits! Sorry Teds!

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Don't apologise! I had a couple of those hippy dippy teachers as well. One chemistry teacher we had (very handsome, knew it, and tried to make passes at all the cute senior girls) would come in on Monday, make a half-hearted attempt to teach us a couple of things during the week, and end Thursday by saying, "Okay, party tomorrow - everybody bring something to munch on!"

I still can't believe he got away with it, even back in the 70's.

[akatnamedeaster.livejournal.com]

Shit, I was amazed at some of the stuff that went down in my school life and that was the mid-80s! They actually had a breezeway available for us to smoke in and no one cared. I imagine now teachers and parents would lose their fucking minds but back then a 10th grader needing a smoke break between classes was perfectly normal and if it happened to not be tobacco, well, just don't be too obvious about it.

Your chemistry teacher sounds like he went on to be my commercial art teacher. Was his name Mr. Swetz? ;)

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

To be honest, all of my teachers were so memorable I can only tell you the names of about three of them. And one of those is because we despised one another so much her name is stamped upon my memory as the number one exhibit in my personal hall of asshats.

[crinklebat.livejournal.com]

OK so first question: are you composing in plain text or rich text mode? Click the small triangle/arrow at the bottom right corner of your Gmail compose window. If you see that "Plain text mode" or something like that is checked, uncheck it and try your copy-paste again. (My Gmail interface uses French labels so I might not have the exact right translations.)

If it still doesn't work, maybe try this: http://www.syschat.com/keep-word-formatting-and-paste-gmail-8192.html ? Gmail is always changing so I make no guarantees, but it seems plausible that the editor would lose formatting from non-browser programs but retain it between browser tabs. It's worth a shot, anyway.

[hbart.livejournal.com]

I had a few good teachers, but I would say the majority were just going through the motions, and that was back when teaching was easier. Or at least it seems to me that kids have become less respectful, parents have become fussier and more hands-off, and guidelines have become more strict. Anyway, my highschool theatre teacher and my highschool choir teacher clearly loved imparting the ways of their craft on young minds. Oh, and let's not forget my middle school typing teacher. Any man who can feel so passionate about typing has got it goin on. :)

As for tech issues, I think we both know the best I can do is pat you on the shoulder and say, "Best of luck."

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

I myself taught for four years, and I remember labouring to bring a love of the art of music to my students in the beginning, but red tape and back stabbing and tin-god principals pretty much beat it out of me. By my last year, I was just going through the motions myself.

[hbart.livejournal.com]

It's awful to have to quit something you love (especially after just four years!) because of all the BS. I work in healthcare which may well be the most disheartening field of all. No longer are we in it to help people. It is all about dotting i's and crossing t's (several times, just in case), bowing down at the mercy of insurance and big pharmaceutical, and trying to avoid getting sued. Just another day in paradise for us all ...

[hikorichan.livejournal.com]

I guess I was lucky: I had a lot of great teachers all throughout school. Of course I had crappy ones too, but I definitely remember the good ones. The best was probably my Grade 12 English teacher. I still use essay techniques he taught me; I still remember how he made me love Hamlet (when I hated Shakespeare before); I'll never forget when there was a teachers' strike and he told our class he'd make himself available to us if we needed him regardless of the picket line. He'd help the kids who were struggling, and try to challenge the kids who excelled.

A good teacher can make all the difference.

[bonsaibetz.livejournal.com]

I had a history teacher, last period. He had this droning voice and he made history drier than dry toast. I used to sit front row center to avoid falling asleep, his voice droning on. I had actually fallen asleep sitting front row and center, where one time I woke up after the bell, the class empty and t teacher glaring at me. Evidentially Imsnored while sleeping sitting up.

[kittylefish.livejournal.com]

in high school i would say i had two teachers who were really excited about their subjects. my spanish teacher - she knew something like seven different languages and tried to light a spark in us. and my physics teacher. he was a bit of an ass, but he was truly passionate about the subject.

i had a couple in junior high as well, a math teacher and an english teacher stand out. and then there was my fifth grade teacher. i am in contact with her again through the miracle of facebook.

[melusin-79.livejournal.com]

i was fortunate to have an inspiring english teacher in secondary school. When we did A levels, she went out of her way to teach us extra texts (2 shakespeare plays instead of 1, 2 milton poems instead of one, 2 of the canterubury tales instead of one etc). so we'd have more choices in the exam. Then, when she was getting a bit behind in the last few months before the exams, she invited all of us to her house one sunday to catch up on Paradise Lost. She made tea and cakes and her husband, who was a university lecturer in music, played jazz on the saxophone in the garden. I wouldn't have got an "A if it hadn't been for her.

[pauraque]

I had one teacher who was truly passionate about teaching (as opposed to just being a cool person, which is a different thing). She taught science, and she was kind of a Bill Nye type who really knew how to find the aspects of her subject that would be intriguing and memorable to kids and make them want to learn more. I remember far more of the things I learned in her class than from any other, and I know others felt the same way.

The story has a sad ending, though. She still taught up until a few years ago, but then she got brought up on statutory rape charges for having sex with a 15-year-old girl who was a former student of hers. They settled out of court and she lost her teaching credential. The whole thing caused an incredible uproar in the town I grew up in (it was a small school district within a bigger urban area), because this teacher had inspired so many people, and it ended up really dividing the community for or against her.

About all I can say is that being a brilliant teacher doesn't mean you can't also make incredibly bad decisions that risk everything you've worked for your whole life.

[tamlane.livejournal.com]

I feel like all my high school teachers were good at what they did, but I don't know that I had any in the life-changing category. But honestly, I blame public high school curriculum more than them. By tenth grade, I was so bored and over it, even being in accelerated, supposedly college-level classes. It wasn't until I got to college that I realized, "Wow, THIS is what real education is like. People actually expect some critical thinking here!"

[shadowycat.livejournal.com]

I had a fair number of good teachers, who knew their subjects and were able to pass on that knowledge pretty well, but a truly passionate teacher was rare. My high school art teacher was one of those who comes to mind. He was able to excel in so many areas of art and he really, passionately wanted us all to have the chance to try anything and everything we wanted. I had a similarly talented and passionate music professor in college. They both made going to class exciting.

My kids had a wonderfully dynamic history teacher in High School, goodness, she was even able to make us tired parents sit up and take notice during the annual open house/ meet the teachers evening. I remember leaving her classroom and wishing that I'd had someone like her teaching me History in High School. Instead I had the baseball coach who just told us to read silently from our books or talked baseball to us... and not baseball history, either.

[dragoon811.livejournal.com]

I don't think any of my teachers were really passionate about what they taught, but I did have good teachers who encouraged learning, especially in younger levels. In middle and high school I had one or two teachers who were memorable, at least.

[irishredlass.livejournal.com]

I remember my AP American Lit and AP English teacher with great fondness. When he first saw my last name he looked at my and said, "Please tell me that you don't consider Science Fiction GREAT Literature." I groaned and said, "No but, yes I am unfortunately related to those who do." He smiled and said "I look forward to working with you!" He had also taught my brother whose favorite author was Heinlein. Then the next year as my final book project I wanted to read The Grapes of Wrath. He didn't want me to read it and I had to argue to be able to read it. His reasoning was this was his favorite book by Steinbeck and he was afraid that a Senior in high school would not be able to grasp it's deeper meanings. I was the only one in class to read it and we spent many hours debating the book. At the end of the course he thanked me for bringing life back into teaching. We inspired each other.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

I had a student like this - even over thirty years later, we are still in touch.