Maria’s Big Thrill

As a teacher the thing that makes me most happy is when I see progress in students abilities. It does not matter where you start, just that you improve.

All my classes for people who are beyond the beginner state try and meet people where they are and move them up a notch. This week I had a wonderful group of beginners at Dunes as well as a most enjoyable group of beyond beginners.

Beyond beginners usually know what to expect from me as a teacher, so they come ready to do their best work. As we go through exercises and the students pick tiles to give away and then we compare their choices to my choice it is very exciting when we all agree on the choice.

Sometimes we don’t agree and I explain why I picked my choice and they explain their thinking. We then have to come to an agreement about what to pass. Most of the time the students defer to my choice, even though I encourage them to challenge me.

Today, in the third day of doing this Maria from Morehead, challenged me and made an excellent case for her choices and I agreed she choice was better than my choice and we went her way. Her excitement was immediate. Beating me was the thrill of the day. Congratulations to Maria. I loved that she had found a better hand than I had. It means my work as her teacher is paying off.

It was a thrilling moment as the teacher. Yeah Maria!