Did you have a favorite teacher growing up?

I had a few. 🥰

Mrs. Kidd, my 4th grade teacher. (Why am I so mad?!?)

Ms. Roman, my middle school art teacher.

Ms. Payne, my high school yearbook advisor.

They were the best of the best. Which made me start thinking about the worst of the worst. 😳

Ms. Brown in elementary school.

Ms. Norman in middle school.

And some math teacher in high school. I can’t even remember her name. 🙄

Then I started thinking, what made the best ones so good, and the bad ones so bad?

And I realized: the great ones saw me as a person.

• They got to know me.
• They gave me great feedback.
• I stayed after school and volunteered.

There was a true connection for both of us I think.

And the bad ones didn’t get to know me at all. They seemed like they didn’t really even want to be there. Like they didn’t even like teaching. And there was zero connection.

I think that’s one of the keys to being a great teacher and possibly happier human. Building relationships.

Matt, the kids, and I watched School of Rock last Friday and I got a lil’ misty eyed thinking about how much I used to love my students. Especially my high schoolers. I saw them every day and although there was a lot about teaching I definitely didn’t love, we did have a lot of fun.

To be honest, Jack Black and I had a very similar teaching style. (Probably not hard to believe)

• One time I wore Heelys to school. (You know, the shoes with wheels in the heels?) My friend Natalie and I thought it was funny to wear those to the bar and glide past people. We were probably in our late 20s. 🤣
• I started an acapella group with another teacher after I saw that movie Pitch Perfect. (It’s harder than it looks.)
• I used to make certain classes cake pops if they earned enough points. (Remember, these were high schoolers.)

We had fun. They knew I cared about them.

And now I can say that’s exactly what makes a great teacher in the online business world too.

Do they know their students’ names? Their businesses? Do they know anything about their students as people?

Do they build actual relationships?

Because those are people’s favorite teachers, don’t you think? And if you’re paying a ton of money for a teacher, I kinda feel like you deserve a great one. Right?

xo dd

PS… I was voted “coolest teacher” three years in a row at that school and then they stopped doing it. (Probably becouse the other teachers got jealous. 🤪) I can assure you that my students called me wack almost everyday. But I was funny, and I cared about them, so I think that made me cool.

PPS… This week on the podcast I’m chatting with Azhelle Wade (aka The Toy Coach) about what makes a great teacher in the Online Business World. You can listen here, or click below! And if you haven’t checked out Steal This Course yet, it’s a good resource for breaking your course buying habits if you feel like you want to cut back on courses.

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