Who has been your favorite teacher in your life?
Alanis’ Question for Fans
March 7th, 2012 12:40 pm
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"It is a joy to be hidden but a disaster not to be found." -- D.W. Winnicott
Life. Life has been the greatest teacher I have ever had so far.
My parents and the life
My math teacher at elementary school, his name is Josenildo”"”
My teacher at University who taught me Immunology and how to be a real scientist. We worked together at Butantan Institute and he was the one who taught me how to be humble in the science world (which is a cruel world) And with him I published some nice articles and made me so proud of my career.
My favorite teacher of my life has been my mother, she taught me how to love, how to forgive and find happiness, how to live. She prepared me for life, to face my problems, taught me to discover the world, the life. Taught me that while things are bad, there is always hope, a light in the darkness. She taught me everything, if i am here today is thanks to her. And she taught me things in life, that i will never forget, so my mom is and has been my favorite teacher in my life.
Favorite teacher has been… myself
Life’s the best teacher.
Your own life, your path will teach what you need.
Ronald Reagan!
Toss up between Miami Sunset HS teachers Mr. Caballero, who had a Facebook page dedicated to his one liners, and Ms. Kjos, an accomplished educator on the state level whose 12th grade English class inspired me to become an English major. She passes away a few years ago of ovarian cancer. RIP.
Too many to single out just one. I’ve had so many in my life, I know I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the influence of all of the people who are in my inner circle, both childhood and adulthood. These are my greatest teachers.
MRS MILLER NEW PRAIRIE JR HIGH , NEW PRAIRIE, INDIANA
My tenth grade English teacher. We studied various philosophies throughout American history (Native Americanism, Dualism (the idea that good and evil are black and white instead of gray), Nationalism, Transcendentalism, Contemporaryism, etc. We also discussed subjectivity vs. objectivity and studied logical fallacies and critical thinking.
I feel like she gave me the keys to my mind. I learned to see outside of my conditioning and recognize so many false assumptions in the world – the masquerading absolutes people have – and ways people manipulate each other.
One of my favorite quotes she shared was “If you can’t change your mind, how do you know you have one.” Changing one’s mind is frequently discouraged. We are encouraged to commit to ideas and then if we change our minds we are considered hypocrites. I think the best attitude is to be open-minded, realizing you know so very little, and to be slow to making hard judgments on topics or even people. Not that I’m very good at that yet…
I have been blessed with many teachers, I learn from my surroundings, the people, mother nature, my parents, my parents parents, my intuition, senses. All of which i am grateful.
Silence………….my silence……..the best teacher in my life.
My favorite teachers are my mother and my father, my mother because she taught me like learn is fun and my father who gave me my first literary book.
<3 Love <3
I’d have to agree with a few others, Life has been the greatest teacher. I’d love to say there has been someone in my life that I’ve looked up to and emulated. Truth is I have learned the most in life through my own introspection, struggles, victories, and gleaning bits of wisdom from others here and there. I love the moments of epiphany where it seems like the universe has poured a bucket of its glorious wisdom over your head as it drenches your being and you feel the energy vibrate through your body.
A youth pastor when i was a teenager. He taught me how to express myself without being ashamed. Before i knew him I was always afraid of showing weakness. I learned from him that being emotional on the outside was not a weakness. Weakness was in not recognizing the emotion was there.
Awesome, Alanis, the greatest teacher is the one that has most recently come to pass. For the one currently is still proving itself. Peace
My math teacher, mister Massiet a very good person.
My poetry, maybe. I did not choose, but it is she who chooses me. When I sit at the computer, dialogue with myself, with God, with my family memories, my anxieties and fears. And so I learn when I can hear myself when I can awaken something that was asleep. Moments are rare, but they are special. Love you! Come to Brazil soon!
Es toda una vida para darse cuenta de que el paisaje viene de adentro
con cánticos de aftas o incluso árboles esmorecidas
el paisaje está diseñado con la facilidad
con la ternura y el trabajo
con las lecturas:
una gaviota no puede ser mayor que la casa
la casa no puede ser menor que el lanzador
El lanzador no puede contener el agua del rÃo
y cuando el cero exceder la hoja,
olvidar el contorno,
y mis dedos no se toquen
no hay razón para diseñar una más
porque va a ser sólo el paisaje.
He was my professor of philosophy at the University of Rosario, Argentina, I learned so much knowledge, as configured, from the Greeks to Foucualt! was very beautiful. Very human.
@olgaumana is the best teacher I’ve ever had.
Good Day Alanis,
Favorite School Teacher: 11th grade Chemistry Teacher & Chess Team Coach, Mr. Watford. He was from England and of African Ethnicity & Heritage. He was very Wise and respectful. He drove an Austin Healy 9correct my spelling please), wore a Sherlock Holmes style hat and overcoat when the weather demanded it. The schoolgirls and teachers (Women) really liked him. He was very witty with ann excellent grasp of dry humor. He might be in his late 70s or early 80s now. I Hope that He’s doing well.
Au Revoir……..
Good Day Again Alanis,
Favorite Historical Teacher: Socrates. He was an important pioneer for Philosophy. The Socratic Method, inductive and deductive reasoning, and His approach to constructive dialogue, are still very important Philosophical tools that are still very relevant even 2400 years after He was unjustly executed.
Au Revoir……..
OSHO
I never had anyone teach me anything..
i had to learn about life on my own..which was for the best i think…it made me strong but at the same time very angry with those who dont want to help those who come after them…if you have kids and dont help them out you are a piece of crap.
but i grew up and learned how to forgive.
My freshmen and sophomore high school English teacher Mrs. Perkins of Shelby County KY. She caused me to think BIG and drift outside the lines. To be myself and have dreams. She taught me that I did not have to conform to the ways of a backwards society and it was a turning point in my life and in becoming ME. I owe her alot and I think she has no idea of how much she impacted my life.
My favorite teacher was Robson, because he carried the music of Alanis for English class, and I was a fan that was crazy, sing all the songs, it happened in 2000. Today Robson is my classmate, because we are completing law school, that’s ironic, do not you think?
Love you ALANIS.
xoxoxx
I guess the Blues ! John Mayall, Jimi, Muddy Waters, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, etc. forgot BB King , Janis and U Alanis.Paul
The music.
Your parents
i know this isn’t what everyone else says- but i am just sayin-
not my favorite because of my relationship-or as a person- but the one who exposed teachings from merely his presence.
which helped me make decisions that – had this person never been in my life- it would have taken me ALOT longer to discover and realize who I am to a core and how actually STRONG i am as a human being making myself a favorite person and teacher to myself-
this sick and sad (i do hope very much that he actually can get the help he needs) -
was my abuser-
i was age 4-11
but he was also a child too- a sick sick child- a child nonetheless-
he now is in prison serving 2 life sentences- and not because of anything from me-
i wasn’t the only-but i do know this man
will never the help he needs-
he lives in sheer hell every day in prison-
bringing it around- i guess i equated a “favorite” teacher to be a “mind changing- life altering” teacher.
i apologize for the long response- it just kinda poured out tonight-
Also, Wagner, the one who taught me Biophysics at university. But e also taught me things about Metaphisics, I Ching, how to read Hermann Hesse and be amazed by this author, he taught me how to deal with my own mind and thoughts. Amazing job
it’s nice that you have found a special teacher at university. Lucky you. By the way, I’ve just got Siddharta by Hesse, will be my next reading.
Time
The realisation that life was a set up to make you learn about yourself, to grow. Once I had that little piece of info i could look at all my negative reactions to things, to myself and gradually unravel and dissolve the version of myself i had come to accept. Lots of humans who happened along at the right time with the right words, but that one realisation has helped pull me out of stinky situations time and again.
My High School Home Ec teacher. She always cared for her students and made us stronger. She helped boost my self esteem and made me a stronger person.
My parent bcoz give me life,my teacher bcoz give me knowledge,me myself and i…luv u alanis…muahh…muahh…
Acredito que você mesma tenha sido uma grande “professora” em minha vida…observo muito a tua jornada e aprendo com ela…Aqui no Brasil hoje é o dia da mulher…sei que no Canadá é o teu dia…Um abraço duplo!!!! Fica na paz…
HAPPY WOMEN’S DAY, ALANIS !!! THANK U FOR BEING OUR BEST REPRESENTATION OF THE FEMALE SOUL !! WE LOVE YOU ! \o/
MUSIC
I think my favorite teacher was many years ago when I was in fifth class. He would always end the day by reading form stories like The Diamond Maker, The Old Man And The Sea, Great Expectations etc… He had a wonderful turn of phrase and could bring the story to life… Very happy memories indeed.
Life. Without a doubt. And my continually improving ability to identify the lessons. Hard work I tell ya, but worth it in hindsight.
1st: my mother
2nd: american tv series
3rd: life
Author, Paulo Coelho. He is teaching me not to let life only pass me by.
Mis hijos, me enseñaron a ceder, respetar, tolerar, ayudar, ser mas compasiva, fortalecer mis valores y deseos. Y amar sobre todas las cosas. Besos
Neale Donald Walsch the writer of the “Converstion With God” series, especially the book that Alanis does the foreword on “Conversation with God for Teens”. I spoke live with Neale yesterday on a live webcast, he was helping to promote an Auction on ebay of his manuscripts of nine of his books in support on ONENESS DAY ! This auction is Amazing by HumanitiesTeam ! Thank you Alanis and Neale for the massive influence you’ve both blessed on my life !
P.S. it’s Humanitysteam (i spelled it wrong in previous post)
want to use this space to greet Joanne Zammit, a great teacher at Eastern Junior High School in Connecticut many years ago.
You. Which is why it is particularly painful when you fall off the radar for years on end.
Jiddu Krishnamurti. But I expect I would neither have found him nor “gotten” him without exposure to a lot of lyric poetry by a certain light in the refrigerator.
My psychology teacher in University (not because she was a psychologist, since I don’t like them in general). It’s nothing about her knowledge. It was just that she trusted me more than I did. My class had very serious problems with her. I was astonished to see the way she coped. That was an example for me for my whole life.
Life itsself and people I’ve met, even though some didn’t want to teach something, they did.
but the question is “favorite teacher” and not “great teacher”… it was my chemistry teacher in high school who stimulated my interest for natural sciences and who appreciated my talent
Murphy’s law and Jerry Seinfeld
I know i’m gonna sound boring and nerd, but apart from few important people in my life, the Internet has been a great teacher (along with life itself, of course). The internet has brought loads of information on what’s really going on in this planet. I would even say it sets people “free”, it all depends on how you use this tools (internet). I think that’s why we had those guys trying to censure the web. Because it has gone out of their control. When i say internet i don’t mean facebook and all that social network crap. It’s more like searching for things we did not had access before. Well, and books are lovely teachers as well. Yeah, i sound like a total nerd. Hahaha!
xx
i said that no one has ever taught me anything but that is a freeking lie..
every piece of wisdom that i have had the honor to impart (doesnt sound right) but anyways
Anything with any sense within me came from music…any common sense that i picked up came from music ALL music…I was like and still am like a sponge when it comes to music, i take in any bit of knowledge and wisdom from art..I was a 90′s kid so my teachers were grunge and alternative rock dudes and dudettes…
I learned about life and death love and loss hope and suffering, all to prepare me for a life that wouldnt be the least bit easy to handle….
Im rambling plus i cant write that well…anywyas have a good night everyone~!
There is but one teacher in particular, I remembered. It is not very different from poetry. I think there is a flame, a floor, a light that brings together all the voices in one, my, unique and particular. And all the teachers I’ve ever had, some more than others, added to what I am. You, for example, much of your art and your way of being is in me. Thank you. Speaking of thanks, I remember a funny episode at the last show here in Brazil … At the place where I was with a friend, the other people around didn´t seem to know all your work. At the end of the show, you had not sung “Thank you” and then we began to shout “Thank you”, “Thank you,” Thank you! “We were asking for the music that you always end the show. People thought we were next to fools, because were thanking the show that way. it was then that moment that you returned to the stage and sang: “Thank you”, as usual. it may seem silly, but at that moment I realized we were connected, even without us knowing. it is also I mentioned before, connection.
Actually, Alanis you have been one of the major “teachers” in my life. I remember first hearing your music in 1995, it didn’t take me long at all to relate to your lyrics and especially a lot of your interviews. You were always so strong and you gave females around the world, strength and a voice that most of us, thought it wasnt allowed to say. Your words of wisdom, your quotes, being a part of so many feminist groups and even being a face of Earth hour. From just being so tuned into your music and wanting to learn so much more about you, it has opened up a culture of the world that I never knew existed. One of your quotes,” I’d rather walk through life than be dragged through it,” are words that I swear by. You have helped me in so many ways Alanis. I’m currently suffering from RSD/CRPS in which I’m up for my fourth surgery in the morning. I have hard days of even wanting to roll out of bed, but your song, “Incomplete,” has gave me the motivation to no give up. So, thank you Alanis, for being who you are, for what you believe in, and for keeping me positive for so many years. You have saved my life and I really wish you knew this wonderful gift that you possess without even trying.
The pain. Although we’re smart, there are many thing on our life that we only change cause the pain are sooo intense that we start to understand that something isn’t good and we need to change. Unfortunaly, the best teacher is the pain!
My favorite teacher was my Literature Teacher named Celia when I was 13yo. Every friday she had this ”Quote Class” where she cutted a few quotes from magazines and gave one to each student, and based on that quote, as homework, we supposed to create a story, and for me that was unique. But to consider, Life itself is a great teacher, sometimes nice, sometimes funny, sometimes tough, but always teaching me what in school I’ve never learned.
Hi Alanis Fans,
My oldest brother Terry was my favorite teacher. He was seven years older than me. He committed suicide at 21.
We had 8mm films of our family when us kids were young. After Terry’s death my Dad wasn’t much interested in shooting films of us.
Anyway, in one of the films, it is New Year’s and us kids are having a “party.” Terry takes a noise-maker and puts is in my hand and shows me how to use it.
It used to break my heart to see that moment. He was always teaching me things, he was so bright and curious!
The films were destroyed in a flood.
Slainte, Jane.
Who was it that said “experience teaches a dear school but a fool learns from no other”? Dr. Kopper would know and he could tell you an enlightening story about it too. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a good number of teachers who have not only transferred knowledge but have inspired original brilliance in me. For instance Dr. Kopper at WCCC in PA is the most influential teacher I have ever had. If you want to learn about history he is hizzy!!! I never cared for history but I love his classes. He loves everything about history and he inspires all of his students. The history club is the largest club a 3C’s (go wolfpack!) and it beats out the national clubs at this college (and they help with scholarships). I’ve never seen someone take a subject that can be as bland as this and make it the best part of my day. His tests are essays and most would cringe at the thought of it and when I sit down to do one of his essays I could be the narrator of one of those history channel documentaries. The only bad part of his class is that it has to end.
If I could go for history and get a job doing it I would. His teaching methods could change the educational dilemmas we face as a nation and I wish all of my teachers were as phenomenal as him. Here is to you Dr. Kopper. 
Myself.. No one said a good teacher right? And being my stubborn self I taught me..they talked but I onlylisten to me me me… Funny for someone who hated herself I sure did wtf j wanted