I had some pretty great teachers...

[Knothead]

I just heard an old blues song on the radio that reminded me of one of them.

Mr. Clark. About 6'3", ramrod straight, salt-and-pepper bottlebrush hair, he taught 4th grade at 54th St. school in L.A.

This guy really enjoyed being a teacher. He treated us with respect, referred to us all as "people!" when he wanted our ever-wandering attention. Taught me how to fight (I was really little, and was always getting picked on) in the hallway during recess, when nobody was around. Bless him.

But the most vivid memory of him was how he would lug his reel-to-reel tape recorder into class at least once a week...

He turned us all on to "Negro music" (the PC term, back then) by which I mean the Blues, and Spirituals.

Leadbelly (real name: Huddy Ledbetter) was his favorite, and the story of this amazing person was told with reverence, which we absorbed like sponges.

I just thought of him, and wondered...you know. I'm sure he's passed on, but I bet he's hangin' with Leadbelly up in Heaven these days, and good for him!

Here's to ya, Mr. Clark!

[Pexster]

A few come to mind -- I had Mr. Harry Schurch, who taught us the theories of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow; Ms. Francine Koren, who could recite Chaucer in Middle English, and who will always be remembered for making me recall how many pillars are in the dungeon of "The Prisoner of Chillon"; and Prof. Len Haff of UCSD, who tried to force knowledge of the Calculus of Variations into my head, with little or no success, yet passing me anyway just for showing up and trying. Oh . . . and he always addressed us as "scholars."

Bless them all.

[M_Six]

Mr. Peterson, my Intro to Physics teacher. After seeing a few paper airplanes flying around the first day, decided aerodynamics would be the theme for the semester. We spent the entire semester designing and building paper airplanes. Serious research, too. There's actually a contest for the best paper airplane at MIT every year. Talk about a great semester. We had a ball and I learn a lot about aerodynamics.

[shahani]

Heheheee.... Variational Calculus.

Gives me nighmares even after 20 years.

[Pexster]

Made me retreat to the Pub all too often!

[sao95]

i had this teacher once and he wanted us to address himn as "oh captain my captain" then he got fired but we all stood on desks and said "oh captain my captain"....WAIT a minute, that was a movie, dead poets society..... oops

[Brainchild]

Van Willis, art.I didn't like art,but Willis was great
He always listened to Willie and Waylon,and what he lacked in taste in music he made up for in style.
He caught us in the Clay Room (pottery room) one day throwing clay at each other.When he opened the door this big clay ball splattered about an inch from his face.He walked over grabbed a handful and winged it back at us.We threw clay for the whole hour.Me,Ken,Tim and Willis.
Although at the end he walked to the door and smiled and said "Clen it up before you leave boys" with a big smile on his face.
I think of him when I hear Willie and Waylon. Great teacher