What makes a teacher great?
Teachers.
Great teachers I’ve been fortunate enough to know, have changed my life.
In one school, we had a teacher who read to us from non picture books. She would invite anyone who wanted to, to put their head down to listen. Some kids would even fall asleep. Not wanting to miss a moment, I didn’t want them to chance that. I loved this part of the day almost as much as recess.
I later had teachers who connected with me, and helped me reach potential, no one thought I had. Their gift changed the whole trajectory of my life.
After I grew up, I met teachers of my kids who I later worked along side and saw their brilliance every day.
I once watched a gifted swim teacher help kids over their fear of water. I saw her do it over and over, but one little girl who went from one extreme to another, was unforgettable.
Miss Linda had a way of being firm and reassuring and held such a strong you can do it belief for every child she taught, that all walked away from her pool successfully jumping in and swimming. In two short weeks, I would witness miracle after miracle.
This little seven year old had moved to California having never learned to swim, old for the land of sun and beach. Most kids learned before they were old enough to remember learning. Her terror of even putting her face near the water was strong. Miss Linda patiently coaxed her and four other younger but still old for CA newbies. The day this girl put her face in the water, and all the things she learned together, we all clapped and cried. At that moment we all saw something extraordinary. She swam, but even bigger than that, she beamed, she was suddenly in love with her new skill. She swam and swam.
Great teachers teach more than skills. They teach possibilities, they teach us some things about ourselves that we may never know we could be or do. They show us who we can be, help us find what we love. Inspiring, connecting, sharing, believing plus some measure of magical love makes a teacher, great.
Peace Kit 
teachers are amazing, what they sometimes put up with is as well, but maybe it’s about being older, and looking back, I learned something from every teacher I had in school, especially high school….and outside of school, my guitar and my love of music outside the norm/expanded my horizons..and oddly enough, a teacher I had, and something he said about physics way back in the 70s, before time began, but what I learned and heard than I think is responsible for my interest now decades later..there was a spark..someone asked, why do we need to know this……space travel with a pen and paper, how cool is that? I now understand that even more
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