Mr. Durand is one of the best teachers I have ever had in my life, not necessarily because of the content knowledge he instilled in me in the 2 classes I took of his, but rather in the “relationship” we established early on throughout my high school career.
In the beginning, I very much was full of bitterness and resentment for Mr. Durand’s decision to give me a 4 on the time machine project. Looking back now from a teaching perspective, I much more comprehend why it happened. It wasn’t even just his choice, for I’m sure Martin and Daniels had just as much input in that decision, but perhaps because I liked him more as a teacher, it made me especially bitter towards him.
Somewhere along the way, the relationship eventually became rekindled, and we were able to make snide, sarcastic remarks towards one another the rest of my high school career, in Biology and AP Environmental Science. I much appreciated the personality he established while teaching, even performing the photosynthesis song for our class:
A few key things that reaffirm my appreciation for Mr. Durand
- We had a relationship outside of the classroom. Students went with him to go to Quizbowl tournaments, where I barely did anything and contributed nothing to the team. Still, it was quite interesting hanging out with a teacher on a weekend and seeing him as a human being.
- I was his Teaching Assistant for the 12th grade, and I did absolutely nothing for him.
- I tried getting a bunch of students in my freshman year to rig the Songfight ballot so he could win. He almost did, but he was morally opposed to the idea of us cheating. How righteous. http://www.songfight.org/artistpage.php?key=ross_durand
- He wrote a song for my 12th grade English AP Project, which I played for my class. Listen here.
- I encouraged him and we talked about lots of TV shows, including Prison Break. And Reunion, before it got cancelled.
- He was the one telling me to major in Communications in college, since I was so obsessed with the FOX television network in high school. Even though I didn’t use my degree for anything at all, I still thoroughly enjoyed studying about it. So props to that.
- I interviewed Mr. Durand for my psychology class, seeing him as a peak example of “self-actualization” according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Hopefully one day I can aspire to be as great a teacher of Mr. Durand, that one of my former students will eventually blog about me. Till then, I’m still at the bottom of Maslow’s pyramid.
