On my walk today I happened to meet a former classmate of mine (and his wife) who took my "Write your life history" class and loved it. I mean he was so enthusiastic. After my free class taught at our church, he sent me a $20 gift certificate for a local eatery. Then when I advertised my book for sale, he came right over and bought it. I love students like that. They are few and far between. Compare that with another student I had recently, an older lady who took my "Creative Blogging" class and got so frustrated she quit the class. Despite my best efforts to encourage her, give her one on one help in class and offer to visit her home and help her there, she gave up. So I've had both kinds of feedback-positive and negative. What makes the difference in learning styles? I think attitude, willingness to listen and try new things. Seeing lack of knowledge not as an obstacle, but a challenge to overcome.
Right now I'm teaching a family history class for my church with a new program online that has been introduced. After 50 years of teaching this class with no manual, I now have one but it needs to be adapted because most of my students are not beginners but have spent years doing their genealogy. I've outlined my lessons and made handouts, but then my students aren't there everytime. So some have missed 2 out of the 3 lessons I've taught so far, which is frustrating to me as a teacher. There is so much involved in teaching and I'm just talking about teaching adults. With children, there is also the discipline factor-capturing their attention and keeping it. Teaching isn't easy but when it works, it changes lives-both yours as the teacher and the student as an individual. You make a connection that can have eternal implications.