Paul Wellstone Quotes

Good teachers know how to bring out the best in students.

I had a public school education - 3,000 kids when I was there. And there were a lot of teachers who would just sit there. You'd come in and sign your name and the teacher would just sit there at the head of the class and you would literally just have to stay in your seat for 40 minutes and that was the only thing you'd have to do in class.

Any good teacher knows how important it is to connect with students and understand our culture.

Like most of the other teachers, I'd done a bit of teaching and we all think we're great at what we do, but you realize that normally you have an audience who are all onside, who all want to listen.

I can't tell you how many people say they were turned off from science because of a science teacher that completely sucked out all the inspiration and enthusiasm they had for the course.

Excitement in education and student productivity, the ability to get a result that you want from students, go together and cannot be separated.

A child's learning is a function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher.

Back in the class room, open your books, keep up, the teacher don't know how mean she looks.

Discussion in class, which means letting twenty young blockheads and two cocky neurotics discuss something that neither their teacher nor they know.

One thing I'm hearing a lot is from teachers who have felt that there's something wrong with the extreme group learning, but felt like they couldn't say that out loud. And apparently the discussion is now opening up. I think change is going to be a long time coming.

So what does a good teacher do? Create tension - but just the right amount.

You have to give kids things they're interested in reading. That's what teachers do who are engaged in what their students want.

I don't know anybody who said, 'I love that teacher, he or she gave a really good homework set,' or 'Boy, that was the best class I ever took because those exams were awesome.' That's not what people want to talk about. It's not what influences people in one profession or another.

We expert teachers know that motivation and emotional impact are what matter.

The best teacher is an entertainer.

I started out as a high school teacher in inner-city Chicago and realized quite quickly that my students weren't that motivated.

I see the root of the education crisis in the primary and secondary schools. Academia is doing a fairly good job. The root of the problem is the teachers. Some are great. But too many of them are not capable of being good role models. They can't control the classes. They lose too much time trying to create a learning environment.

Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.

I'd like to think I'm a great teacher.

The teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron.

Misdirected focus on paperwork, on procedures, and on bureaucracy frustrates teachers and fails to give children the education they need.

The best teachers are those who keep students motivated, challenged and flourishing.

I have learned that, although I am a good teacher, I am a much better student, and I was blessed to learn valuable lessons from my students on a daily basis. They taught me the importance of teaching to a student - and not to a test.

As a former high school teacher and a student in a class of 60 urchins at St. Brigid's grammar school, I know that education is all about discipline and motivation. Disadvantaged students need extra attention, a stable school environment, and enough teacher creativity to stimulate their imaginations. Those things are not expensive.

The best teachers, one hopes, don't shout at their students - because they are skilled at wooing as well as demanding the best efforts of others. For the ancient Greeks and Romans, this wooing was a sufficiently fine art in itself to be the central focus of education.