{"id":332,"date":"2021-10-01T04:32:29","date_gmt":"2021-10-01T09:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pbonew.practicebuilders.com\/scott-new\/blog\/?p=332"},"modified":"2025-01-21T02:52:30","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T08:52:30","slug":"a-for-effort-what-makes-a-great-teacher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eyeplasticmd.com\/blog\/a-for-effort-what-makes-a-great-teacher\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A\u2019 for Effort What Makes a Great Teacher"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love learning \u2014 which is fortunate, considering all the years of education I needed to become a doctor. In no small part, I attribute that love to all the great teachers I had growing up. Oct. 5 is National Teacher\u2019s Day, which I think is the perfect time to recognize the teachers who impacted our lives.<\/p>\n

Teachers have helped to keep me focused and motivated throughout my life, but I think the most important thing any teacher can do is make their lessons fun. While I didn\u2019t realize it until years later, I finally recognized the effects of \u201chaving fun\u201d on the learning process. As a child, I remember going to Sunday School class. We\u2019d get pulled out of the church service a little early \u2014 already a bonus to a kid \u2014 and they\u2019d teach us briefly about a miracle or another important religious lesson.<\/p>\n

The teachers made it interesting, but what I remember most of all were the donuts. Because we were let out of Sunday School before the service ended, we had first access to the donuts that were put out for the congregation in the church hall. I don\u2019t think it was planned that way, but getting to choose my favorite donut before they were gone was all I wanted as a kid. Years later, I still remember Sunday School with fondness. The teachers were good and the subject was clearly interesting, but I am convinced it was the donuts that kept this positive association with my early religious teachings.<\/p>\n

Throughout my schooling, I had many wonderful teachers, but the one I remember best is Dom Mingione. Mr. Mingione was my high school history teacher, track coach, and football coach. He was a tremendous role model who taught me that you can make up for any deficiencies you might have as long as you stay focused and are willing to work hard.<\/p>\n

Mr. Mingione was very knowledgeable about history and always made the class fun by having us do non-standard projects. He\u2019d allow us to pick our own history subjects, which made his class relatable to each student. It also forced us to read widely and become persuasive because we had to justify why the topic we\u2019d chosen was important. He had a system \u2014 the harder we worked, the better the grade we got. It wasn\u2019t just about the test but how much effort we put into our own learning.<\/p>\n

In the years since, I\u2019ve been blessed to teach students myself as a fellow in eyelid plastic surgery and a teacher at Georgetown University Center for Sight. As I embarked on my own teaching journey, I carried the lessons of my childhood with me. I always tried to have something fun as a part of my lectures, like a question of the day or an oddball fact. The goal was to keep it interesting and unique, which I hoped would make the information easier to retain. I advise anyone who finds themselves teaching to ask themselves if there is any way to make this subject fun to learn. If you are having trouble \u2014 break out the donuts!<\/p>\n

As I reflect on the teachers I\u2019ve had throughout my life, I can\u2019t help but think about the book \u201cGive and Take\u201d by Adam Grant. Grant argues that \u201cgivers\u201d will almost always come out on top in life. While \u201ctakers\u201d focus on what others can do for them, and \u201cmatchers\u201d try to negotiate equal exchanges, givers focus on making things better for other people. In addition to finding success, givers also tend to not get burnt out as frequently, because they can see the positive
\nimpact of their actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

Every great teacher I\u2019ve met throughout my life was, without a doubt, a giver. Let\u2019s all take our hats off to them for everything they do, especially for what they have done during these last two difficult and uncertain years. Teachers do have an incredible impact on their students; I certainly wouldn\u2019t have the career I love today without them.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

 <\/td>\n\n
\"dr\"\"sign\"<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love learning \u2014 which is fortunate, considering all the years of education I needed to become a doctor. In no small part, I attribute that love to all the great teachers I had growing up. Oct. 5 is National … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":333,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eyeplasticmd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eyeplasticmd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eyeplasticmd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eyeplasticmd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eyeplasticmd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eyeplasticmd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":335,"href":"https:\/\/eyeplasticmd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332\/revisions\/335"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eyeplasticmd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eyeplasticmd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eyeplasticmd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eyeplasticmd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}