PASSION

I believe that passion is what makes life interesting. It is what drives us in our daily pursuits, and guides us towards a fulfilling life.

Educators who bring passion to their classrooms spark similar passion in their students. Regardless of whether a certain discipline is appealing or interesting to a student, if their teacher shows enthusiasm and vibrancy towards that subject, some of that passion will transfer to them, and they will begin to look at the subject in a new light. A passion-less will come off as being bored with the subject, and if the teacher is bored, you can bet the students will find no intellectual importance in the subject.

Not only will passion rub off on them, but if an educator has a passion for something, this passion will cross over into their work. They will spend time creating interesting and stimulating lessons and search for creative ways to reach every student.

However, passion in an specialized area is not the only requisite for being an effective teacher. There must also be a passion for teaching, a passion for seeing students succeed. If one lacks this, they can share all the information they know in the most passion-driven way, but they will not reach their students because educating them does not lie on an equal plane.

I remember one of my 11th grade teachers. She was...interesting...to put it gently. Every day my peers and I would leave the class smiling over some new quirk we learned about our teacher. But we also left knowing things we did not know coming in. Underneath her eccentric visage laid a genuine passion for her subject. Partnered with this love was also a genuine passion for teaching. She loved to see students "get things" as well as bridge the gap between assumed literary interpretations and new, abstract understandings and connections.

Because she exerted this educational passion, my peers and I picked up on it, bought into it, and found success in her class (which was not an easy one may I add).