NoNameProf

I enjoy teaching, and I never feel like it is a burden. I teach two three hours classes, back to back, and I don’t feel it is that long at all. How do I do it? A few things:

• The exchange in classroom has to be real. In the sense, I can not pretend something I am not. If I don’t feel it is real (discussion wise), I will lose interest and students will see it and react to it.
• Be who I am and do what I am good at. I have unique scholarly work and perspective, I find sharing my research and ideas with students very rewarding, especially when some of them respond to them positively.
• Get students invovled in discussion. One way teaching is boring and not stimulating. Student involved class is more interesting for both me and the students, and the learning is more fun.

Most people are healthy for most of their early life, and we assume that is going to be the default. Then we get sick, does not even need to be serious, and we recognize how vulnerable we are, and how much we should appreciate life when we can function normally.

I think this can be said about many things, in addition to our personal health. We do not appreciate things when we have it, only realize their importance when we lose it. How can one break this cycle?

I think this takes a lot of humility, a sense that one is lucky to have what one have now, and appreciate and act as if they will disappear in the next second.