Talking About Great Teachers At SXSWedu

Jackie Bastardi, Instructor at Curious on Hudson

Bastardi is inspired by her high school physics teacher, Ms. Kelly, who gave her the confidence to major in mechanical engineering at one of the top schools in the country, Rochester Institute of Technology.

"She was awesome at showing examples of these theoretical calculations. She was always launching stuff across the room." Bastardi, an instructor at Curious on Hudson, an enrichment program in upstate New York that exposes kids to science and engineering, now helps her students build their own catapults and rockets.

Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX

Agarwal's most inspirational teacher taught his high school math class in India. "He would yell and scream and curse students," says Agarwal, an electrical engineering and computer science professor at MIT. He is also the CEO of the Massive Open Online Course platform edX.

For advanced students, the teacher gave out special problems and instructed them to go think. "He really helped me learn how to challenge students," Agarwal says.

"He would make math come alive."

Zak Malamed, Founder of Student Voice

Mr. Bua only taught Malamed one elective at his suburban New York middle school, but that didn't matter. "He was someone who was there to support me and my interests outside of the classroom," Malamed says. "He inspired me to be much more than just a student."

Malamed remembers Bua staying after school and spending time working on a big social awareness project. "He helped me begin to find relevance and purpose in my learning experience."

Malamed still keeps in touch with Bua, but if he had to write his teacher a note now, it would say: "Thank you, Mr. Bua. Your belief in me made me believe in myself."