Teachers Who Came Before

October has arrived, and teaching is occupying much of my time. I am really enjoying myself. I am impressed with the Ohio State students at both the graduate and undergraduate level. I have the chance to try new things, which keeps things interesting for me.

Mostly I have had a chance to reflect upon those who have shown me how to be a good teacher by example. In some small part, I try to embody the classroom styles of Sean McCleneghan, Don Martin, Claude Fouillade, Heuy McCoy, and Victor Johnston (current and retired faculty at NMSU). At the graduate level, I learned much from Annie Lang, Mike Gasser, Bob Meeds, Tom Grimes, and many other dedicated scholars.

Each instructor was different, but in each case, they engaged me in the class. They made me want to be there. For that I am thankful. And I hope that my students here at Ohio State have a better experience because of what I learned from these dedicated scholars. After so many years on the receiving end, it is nice to be able to give back.

Sometimes we are lucky, and we continue to hear from former students years later. Just this week, I heard from a student in my first-ever class at Kansas State. If every class had a student like Emily, I would never tire of teaching. As a disclaimer, she threatened me if I did not say something good about her in this Weblog. Har!