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Ana B Nieto's avatar

I remember a lot of teachers. My favorites were those that brought the subject into my world and made sure I could connect the dots to something that was not merely an abstraction in the textbooks. I also remember a professor who came to a high school I was visiting one day and gave a lecture—una clase magistral —on geology. The passion of this guy was remarkable. I believe we all left the class loving tectonic plates, not only with knowledge but also with plenty of curiosity to keep ourselves going on the subject.

Raúl Gil's avatar

Right! So I guess this means that, indeed, they were the ones with the best pedagogical skills. They made sure you understood AND feel interested, even passionate about the subject :-) What more could you ask of a teacher? Thanks for reading, Ana!

Pedro's avatar

Some of the teachers that I remember more vividly are indeed the ones that I found to be the most inspiring or the most empathic. But I also remember very well teachers that had no pedagogical ability whatsoever. For example, I had this algebra teacher that was somewhat of a lunatic. If you entered his class by mistake, you might have mistaken it for a acting course, such were the dramatic ways in which he gesticulated and told his stories. It was very entertaining to watch, but I just couldn't see how any of that was related to algebra.

Nice, I had Pantheon on my watch list for some time. I will definitely give it a chance!

Raúl Gil's avatar

Ha ha, yeah, I can totally see that. They were more entertaining characters than teachers! Perhaps not a bad approach for current teachers, though. Make it interesting and hard to ignore :-D

José Lomo Marín's avatar

I remember, dear Raúl, a certain professor who —despite being a leading authority in his field—made me feel like the most useless soul on Earth as far as calligraphic talent is concerned. To this day, I still admire him for his talent and rock-star flair, although I wouldn't exactly put him on the list of people with the greatest pedagogical ability :-)

That sketchbook is going to look lovely, my friend.

Raúl Gil's avatar

OMG. That was a teacher who simply had a charisma and personality that was hard to forget, regardless of what he taught, ha ha. I'll never forget those "Sou uns drogradictes", among others.