My sister's home for the Thanksgiving holiday, and she was talking about her Polymer Science professor (Dr. Lockhead, who has been at the college's program since it started, is the head of the program, and, presumably, has had a big hand in developing polymers that the college owns the patents to. Like KY Jelly. And the rubber used for the soles of Nike shoes. And Dr. Lockhead apparently created some of the slime for the Ghostbusters movie--the sticky kind.)
My sister said she likes the guy because despite him being tiny and in his sixties (at least) and looking dignified, she said he's a riot in his classes and not afraid to demonstrate the action of a polymer by using his own body (she said he explained Teflon's coating by jumping onto his desk and laying on it spread-eagle, while talking, and showed the molecular geometry of carbon by striking a ballerina pose) Or, to put it more precisely, she said, "I wish I could put him in the trunk of my car and be able to pull him out to show people."
It got me thinking about awesome teachers I've had in my past. I'd have to say..
-A geography professor who is not only nice, but benevolent. The guy has been teaching forever (some of my geology professors have had him when they were students) and teaches because he loves it and loves students. He's a saint, he knows his stuff, and even the freshmen get the vibe that he's not your usual professor.
-A high school English teacher who, ironically, I didn't have for English. I had her for Public Speaking and Journalism. I think she's only about eight years older than I am, and in some of the less structured classes (you can not get less structured than Baker High School's Journalism class. Not while still doing stuff, anyway), she was basically friends with the students. Very easy-going, while still being good at her job.
-A British Lit instructor who made the class pretty fun, and one of the best test-writers I've ever seen. She could teach classes on how to make an effective test which sampled the knowledge of the students. She also admitted that some of British history (which she covered to provide context to the literature of the time) was bloody stupid. Like the Bishop's Wars.
-My senior-year English teacher, who did some really awesome stuff with Beowulf and had classroom spelling bees for extra points on the tests. The side I was on always won, because I'd read the most and therefore it wasn't often I ran across a word I didn't know how to spell. I was very popular on one half of the classroom for the constant five extra points on tests.
-A geology professor who's the reason it's my major.
-Out of academia, this board. I've picked up so much random, entertaining information on here...
So, who have you had that really impressed you?
Cool teachers you've had
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Cool teachers you've had
Last edited by Maxus on Wed Nov 25, 2009 9:21 am, edited 2 times in total.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
I had an absolutely phenomenal teacher for calculus back in high school. I had her for various math courses three years in a row. Brilliant teacher (99 point whatever percent pass rate on the AP exam), and not afraid to let a little bit of her quirks out in class (she had various toys that would make appearances on days we weren't particularly behind).
I had an absolutely amazing history prof last semester. Fricken brilliant and was able to get just about every single student in the lecture hall interested in her lectures.
My AP physics teacher in high school wasn't the best teacher (he did understand the stuff, but had a hard time translating some of it), but his class was absolutely hilarious.
I had an absolutely amazing history prof last semester. Fricken brilliant and was able to get just about every single student in the lecture hall interested in her lectures.
My AP physics teacher in high school wasn't the best teacher (he did understand the stuff, but had a hard time translating some of it), but his class was absolutely hilarious.
Mr. Baker: Oh, you kids just wait til next month. Then we're covering stuff none of you six learned last year, so you can't keep correcting me to make me look like a tool.
Me: Somebody should probably read the next chapter ahead of time so we can continue to make him look like a tool.
Mr. Baker: Oh, you would just love that, wouldn't you?
Me: Yeah, that would be hilarious. I'll be right back. Gunna grab my book from my locker.
I leave the classroom to grab my book and my prof simply locks me out of the classroom until the end of the period. I clapped for him when he let me back in.
Me: Somebody should probably read the next chapter ahead of time so we can continue to make him look like a tool.
Mr. Baker: Oh, you would just love that, wouldn't you?
Me: Yeah, that would be hilarious. I'll be right back. Gunna grab my book from my locker.
I leave the classroom to grab my book and my prof simply locks me out of the classroom until the end of the period. I clapped for him when he let me back in.
None. The only thing they cared about was a paycheck for the least work.
An art instructor might have been for turning the final exam into a party that you just had to show for and look over the other artwork, had it not been he bumped it up an hour and anyone (like myself) that didn't make it to the party failed the course.
The party lasted only 15 minutes to take roll for ALL his classes at the same time. I even got a speeding ticket rushing from work to get there at the earlier time. 
Job that puts food had to come first, so no cool teachers. They think they own students and forget that they have a job to do and why their job is to be done at specific times.
That was about the closest thing to one though I ever saw.
An art instructor might have been for turning the final exam into a party that you just had to show for and look over the other artwork, had it not been he bumped it up an hour and anyone (like myself) that didn't make it to the party failed the course.
The party lasted only 15 minutes to take roll for ALL his classes at the same time. I even got a speeding ticket rushing from work to get there at the earlier time. Job that puts food had to come first, so no cool teachers. They think they own students and forget that they have a job to do and why their job is to be done at specific times.
That was about the closest thing to one though I ever saw.
Play the game, not the rules.
good read (Note to self Maxus sucks a barrel of cocks.)
Swordslinger wrote:Or fuck it... I'm just going to get weapon specialization in my cock and whip people to death with it. Given all the enemies are total pussies, it seems like the appropriate thing to do.
Lewis Black wrote:If the people of New Zealand want to be part of our world, I believe they should hop off their islands, and push 'em closer.
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RobbyPants
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I had three that really stuck out:
Psychology 101 prof my freshman year - she did a really good job with the material and the classes were always interesting. I liked to go to class.
Criminal Justice 101 prof my sophomore year - he too was really good at delivering the material. He was interesting enough that I brought my wife (girlfriend at the time) to one of the classes to attend (she didn't even go to that college) just because he was that interesting. It worked out because the class was taught in a lecture hall that was only ever half full.
Pre-calc teacher in high school my senior year - he did a good job explaining the material and making sure everyone understood it. He was also funny in that he was the wrestling coach, and was freaking huge. When a dry erase marker would run out, he'd throw it across the room into the garbage can and it would usually make it in. One time he missed, and a student near the can threw it back to the front of the room at the board when the teacher's back was turned, startling him. As a joke, he picked up a fairly large office chair with one arm, acting like he was going to throw it across the room. Good times.
Psychology 101 prof my freshman year - she did a really good job with the material and the classes were always interesting. I liked to go to class.
Criminal Justice 101 prof my sophomore year - he too was really good at delivering the material. He was interesting enough that I brought my wife (girlfriend at the time) to one of the classes to attend (she didn't even go to that college) just because he was that interesting. It worked out because the class was taught in a lecture hall that was only ever half full.
Pre-calc teacher in high school my senior year - he did a good job explaining the material and making sure everyone understood it. He was also funny in that he was the wrestling coach, and was freaking huge. When a dry erase marker would run out, he'd throw it across the room into the garbage can and it would usually make it in. One time he missed, and a student near the can threw it back to the front of the room at the board when the teacher's back was turned, startling him. As a joke, he picked up a fairly large office chair with one arm, acting like he was going to throw it across the room. Good times.
I had a lot of amazing teachers I reckon, mostly in high school.
In high school our government teacher was personally known by our congress members, senators, and governors thanks to his involvement in politics as a citizen and his long career as a super teacher. At his retirement he was granted Indiana's highest teaching award by two different Indiana governors, Democrat and Republican (one obviously no longer in office), a feat no other teacher can claim. He was a splendid teacher, interesting orator, super polite and connected well-enough that he got all the people running for congress in our district (indianapolis) to actually come to our school individually to talk to the class as a non-photo op.
One chemistry teacher in high school could happily have been a great professor at a major university (and I presume at some point he was since he had a PhD). He was entertaining and educational, and he put up with my lab reports which sometimes were written in prose. Now he is living the good life as he retired when I graduated so that he and his wife younger than him by 10-15 years could start up her medical practice in Michigan. Lucky bastard.
I could list probably a dozen more incredible high school teachers that I had, but those two stood out a bit further.
One of my favorite college professors taught Chinese History. A crotchety old man who still had a sharp wit and good sense of humor. My favorite quote from him was that he used to be an agnostic but now he was too damn old to be undecided so he was an atheist. Purely because of my enjoyment of his first class I decided I was going to take another class of his before I graduated, but he took a year off to recover from a heart attack he had in the summer =-( and I missed my chance. I heard that he had recovered and was back to teaching after I was gone. =-)
In high school our government teacher was personally known by our congress members, senators, and governors thanks to his involvement in politics as a citizen and his long career as a super teacher. At his retirement he was granted Indiana's highest teaching award by two different Indiana governors, Democrat and Republican (one obviously no longer in office), a feat no other teacher can claim. He was a splendid teacher, interesting orator, super polite and connected well-enough that he got all the people running for congress in our district (indianapolis) to actually come to our school individually to talk to the class as a non-photo op.
One chemistry teacher in high school could happily have been a great professor at a major university (and I presume at some point he was since he had a PhD). He was entertaining and educational, and he put up with my lab reports which sometimes were written in prose. Now he is living the good life as he retired when I graduated so that he and his wife younger than him by 10-15 years could start up her medical practice in Michigan. Lucky bastard.
I could list probably a dozen more incredible high school teachers that I had, but those two stood out a bit further.
One of my favorite college professors taught Chinese History. A crotchety old man who still had a sharp wit and good sense of humor. My favorite quote from him was that he used to be an agnostic but now he was too damn old to be undecided so he was an atheist. Purely because of my enjoyment of his first class I decided I was going to take another class of his before I graduated, but he took a year off to recover from a heart attack he had in the summer =-( and I missed my chance. I heard that he had recovered and was back to teaching after I was gone. =-)
Last edited by erik on Wed Nov 25, 2009 1:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I had a lot of great teachers in High School; then again I went to a Catholic High School so that doesn’t say anything about the state of public school teachers in my area. I only know them because I am friends with them, so that doesn’t count.
In college, I had a great physics professor for freshman physics. Like most of the physics faculty at the time he was into radio astronomy. He was known for a bald head, a pronounced nose, (which he would occasionally use as a silhouette walking in front of the overheads like a certain horror film director) and a habit of lighting his pipe. (He would light his pipe, take a puff, go back to explaining something and discover that his pipe had gone out from lack of use; repeat until end of class.)
In college, I had a great physics professor for freshman physics. Like most of the physics faculty at the time he was into radio astronomy. He was known for a bald head, a pronounced nose, (which he would occasionally use as a silhouette walking in front of the overheads like a certain horror film director) and a habit of lighting his pipe. (He would light his pipe, take a puff, go back to explaining something and discover that his pipe had gone out from lack of use; repeat until end of class.)
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Guyr Adamantine
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Two teachers stick out for me.
First, in my third year of high school, was my sex-ed teacher. He was MAD. Never before had I seen a grown man imitating a spermatozoid, and managing a to make whole class of blazé teenagers follow him. Pure magic. Also, that was the only time I had to make an oral presentation on erogenous zones.
Second my fifth year high school french teacher. I've never met a man so intelligent, sociable and passionate. Always had an anecdote about a book he'd read or a movie he watched. He once gave me a 100% note on an essay I made after he read it once. It wasn't even a fair copy yet.
First, in my third year of high school, was my sex-ed teacher. He was MAD. Never before had I seen a grown man imitating a spermatozoid, and managing a to make whole class of blazé teenagers follow him. Pure magic. Also, that was the only time I had to make an oral presentation on erogenous zones.
Second my fifth year high school french teacher. I've never met a man so intelligent, sociable and passionate. Always had an anecdote about a book he'd read or a movie he watched. He once gave me a 100% note on an essay I made after he read it once. It wasn't even a fair copy yet.