The student mind

Yep. I got even though. I took a full-year course on Yeats in university, and the teacher clearly did not want to hear any opinion beyond what his own thesis was all about. The major portion of our grade was an essay, topic of our choice. He had commented ad nauseum that he thought Yeats's mysticism and involvement with The Golden Dawn was a pile of crap invented by weirdos and/or hippies, so I decided to write my paper on that topic. I researched more than I even had before, cited resources from folks Yeats actually knew. It was a lofty tome, and incredibly well-referenced, if I say so myself. I got an A. He had no choice.

Heh heh, nicely done, Cav!

I liked this, Fortune, and I totally agree with what you're saying. My Spanish teacher in the last two years of my A-levels hated me, because I wanted fluency. She tried to screw me over by demanding my coursework without giving me any notice at all. I still got top of the school, though, and to this day she sneers at me for beating her results.

Very satisfying, Drom! Years ago I had one teacher in particular who just used to love to point out every little mistake I made. The man drove me nuts! I almost gave up trying to learn maths.

Later on, towards the end of high school, I had another teacher who was as patient as the day is long. I aced every single test that woman set.

I don't see how these people can think that gloating over their students' imperfections can have anything but a negative effect on their students' wishing to learn. At least, there are some good teachers out there. But, with crap pay and high stress, they go into other avenues...

i had a teach who thought students were designed to be seen and not talking

How frustrating that must have been!

And a belated welcome, 00masmit.

Welcome, 00masmit. What do you mean? -- did this teacher want silence when they talked, or did they not discuss things with you at all?

I had a teacher once with a tagline. When we spoke out of turn, so to speak, there were two standard responses: "Your mouths are flapping in the breeze" or "I don't like looking down manholes."