Dr. Francis Rose, A Teacher Super-Hero

I saw a post on Facebook asking teachers about their heroes and it reminded me of Dr. Rose, a professor I had in college who taught a monster class, Human Anatomy & Physiology.  He made it clear to everyone that his door was always open, day or night. He was there to help, whether it related to class or problems we might be having with life.  That, to a freshman at a very large university, was comforting.

His most important less lesson was a bit sneaky, and really had nothing to do with HA&P, but it worked.  It was time for finals and, as you can imagine, there was a lot of information regarding human anatomy and physiology for which we were responsible.  But not to worry... He announced we were allowed to bring in one 3x5 notecard with as much information on it as we could get- front and back! 

Whew!  That was a relief! I thought I was going to have to memorize all that information and try to remember it for the final.  This would be no problem... I got the entire semester of notes written on that tiny 3x5 card!  At the time, I could write and actually read what would now be a microscopic-size 4 or 5 font.  I color-coded information so I wouldn't waste time searching.  I was ready!

The day of the final, I strolled into that huge auditorium, completely confident of acing that test when he said, "Put everything away." 

What?!!? I thought we were able to use our note card?  Did I misunderstand? Oh, this is NOT going to be good. 

Here's the funny thing- as I read over the test, question after question, I was able to recall exactly where all that information was on that tiny card. It turns out, while I was organizing a semester's worth of notes on the card in a way that made sense and would be easy to find, I was also packing it in my brain, connecting and storing it in a place that would be easy to access. 

Later, I realized I learned a valuable lesson from Dr. Rose.  Not only did I come out of his class with a great layman's knowledge of human anatomy,  but I also learned the best way for me to study!  

I still have that note card somewhere. I looked for it, but I guess it's safely tucked away in a very important spot that will remain a mystery to me until the next time I run across it looking for something else.  Really, I'm a packrat at heart. One never knows when one will want more information about mitochondria. Well, OK, I could probably get rid of it now- we've got the internet.  In my defense, at the time, we only had Fortran. Google it.  

I have had many other teachers who were important in my educational experiences, including teammates.  In this day and age, where teachers have to prove their worthiness, it's nice to be recognized and remembered for a job well done. Dr. Rose, I'm guessing you're retired now, but I wanted to tell you~ Thank you for challenging me!

Who's a super-hero teacher in your life?

     

Picture credit for Dr. Rose, 1974, Texas Tech University, La Ventana, vol. 49, pg. 197-198