The teacher that you always wanted

October 19, 2016 8:47 PM

Mr. Wright of Louisville Male High School I found this while I was supposed to be doing homework. This is way more interesting. (Warning: It's dusty in here...)
posted by dfm500 (12 comments total)

Here's the article that goes along with this (very moving, omg) video: "Laws of Physics Can’t Trump the Bonds of Love"
posted by Charity Garfein at 10:36 PM on October 19, 2016

Well, now I am officially crying. (In a good way.)
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 11:50 PM on October 19, 2016

I am a teacher and someday, maybe, someday I hope I will be able to be as good at my job, and simply at being a compassionate human, as this man.
posted by mdonley at 2:11 AM on October 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

This will inspire me for the rest of my life. Thank you for bringing it into it, dfm500 and metafilter.
posted by Mike Mongo at 3:14 AM on October 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

I think this is the third day this week Metafilter made me cry early in the morning. I'm beginning to think that may be really beneficial to my whole outlook or something. I have no idea wtf I'm talking about, but it does make me feel better.
posted by james33 at 3:52 AM on October 20, 2016

This is great.
But - foreigner's question - does the word "Male" in a school's name have anything to do with admissions policy? If so, they seem to be overlooking this criteria a little.
posted by rongorongo at 3:55 AM on October 20, 2016

rongorongo: "does the word "Male" in a school's name have anything to do with admissions policy? If so, they seem to be overlooking this criteria a little."

That's addressed in passing in the NY Times blog. It used to be all-male, now it's co-ed but they've kept the name.
posted by brokkr at 4:04 AM on October 20, 2016

Some more great Louisville-area teaching stories: JCPS students react as teachers tell them how special they are and on a lighter note, This Teacher Apologized to His Students for Asking Them to Watch the (Terrible) Debates.

We have a good culture surrounding education in our area, and our local politics tend to fixate on education. Sometimes the news surrounding the public school system is negative, but I think people don't always realize that the focus really does help improve the schools.
posted by phlyingpenguin at 6:28 AM on October 20, 2016 [3 favorites]

Here's another one: Teacher Gets Gift From Student That He's Wanted Since He Was 11 Years Old

Please post more, I need the catharsis.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:28 AM on October 20, 2016

Incredibly touching.

There must be something about people who teach physics, and the questions it raises. I was lucky enough to attend a liberal arts college where a lot of students (myself included) took only the minimum 2 required semesters of math and/or science. By graduation some 60% of students satisfied that requirement by taking an amazing lecture course on physics, cosmology, and the universe, with a famous final lecture that routinely caused tears and received standing ovations.

it concluded:

Something amazing and truly heart-warming happened some three billion years ago. Life appeared. And over the eons of time it evolved, becoming ever more beautiful. That’s how you got here. This is your story, your cosmic heritage. Your existence is rooted in 14 billion years of cosmic history. The universe, this universe, is on your side. You are made of star stuff, therefore, you are special.

Maybe we are all special, and maybe physics teachers are a more special subset of us, and it certainly seems like Mr Wright is about as special as they come.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 6:31 AM on October 20, 2016 [3 favorites]

I can't post the video, but a few years ago I had a 2nd-grade student who was a really good singer but wouldn't sing in front of others (but really, really wanted to)... so I made it a goal for the year to convince her to perform at the school talent show. I brought my guitar to school and learned an Adele song so she could sing along, and she eventually sang in the classroom at lunch with her two friends, then a couple of other students stayed in to listen, and two 6th graders even came in to see who was belting out Rolling in the Deep. We did that for a few months.

At the end of the year she completely shocked her parents by performing in the show in front of the whole school, twice, and she was amazing. The next year she performed the National Anthem, and she went on to perform it at some local baseball games.

So the point of the story is that the summer after that year, I got an email from her dad with the title 'Jenny's Song' with a link to a video, and she had written a song about me coming out to recess to play with her and about how much she missed me, and she sang it to me while her dad accompanied on piano. That was years ago and I'm totally crying about it again right now.

Anyway, that was my best teacher gift ever, and was also the day I found out how to save youtube videos locally, haha.
posted by Huck500 at 1:09 PM on October 20, 2016 [11 favorites]

... By graduation some 60% of students satisfied that requirement by taking an amazing lecture course on physics, cosmology, and the universe, with a famous final lecture that routinely caused tears and received standing ovations.

it concluded:

Something amazing and truly heart-warming happened some three billion years ago. Life appeared. And over the eons of time it evolved, becoming ever more beautiful. That’s how you got here. This is your story, your cosmic heritage. Your existence is rooted in 14 billion years of cosmic history. The universe, this universe, is on your side. You are made of star stuff, therefore, you are special. ...
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:31 AM on October 20

Is video of this course online anywhere? Or even just that final lecture? It sounds like this course should be posted on Khan Academy.
posted by dancestoblue at 6:36 PM on October 20, 2016