What makes a teacher great....

 (Editor's Note: This month, one of the finest teachers, one of the most talented instructors, David Kender,  will retire from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. His 25 years of service to the University, much like his 24 years of military service to his country, is not an end of a career, but simply a new phase in his life.  see more)

What makes a teacher great?

The answer is simple. The thing that makes a good teacher become a great teacher is the ability to cause one’s students to think. It's showing the student how to take all of the instructions, lectures, examples, tests and assignments and have the student come to the needed conclusion on his or her own. To think for themselves based on the knowledge they have gained.

The best teacher, the greatest teacher I ever had was one that I didn't have in a classroom, at least not the conventional classroom with four walls and a chalkboard. It was in the classroom of life.

 My brother, Dave, who will be retiring
from Wright State this month after a
 remarkable 25 year
career.

He's been teaching me my entire life not so much by lectures or instructions but by example. And I don't think either of us thought of it as a learning session. Our sessions were simply younger brother watching his older brother.

I guess my earliest tutoring that I can recall was when I would walk into his bedroom when I was probably not more than 5 or 6 years old and with our seven year age difference, he would be nearing high school age. His room was packed with electronic equipment from ham radios, oscilloscopes, and the newest item on the market, a CB radio. He also had one of his earliest inventions, a "shock machine", that he would entice me and my best friend to hold onto as he turned up the voltage to a set of tin orange juice cans that were wired to a transformer. Yes, that too, was a learning experience.

As I look back over the years, I realize that our one on one in-person meetings probably never totaled more than 50 visits together. He went off to the University of Chicago and then later Miami University in Oxford, leaving me at home until I would later head to the University of Oklahoma.

After graduation he entered the Air Force. I would do the same a few years later. We kept in touch on rare occasions by phone and of course we would meet up again as deaths occurred and we would see each other at gravesides.

During the 70's our paths crossed in the most unusual set of circumstances.

I was the editor of theLangley Flyer, the base newspaper at Langley AFB in Virginia and he was stationed at Pope AFB in North Carolina. As editor, I would receive base newspapers from all over the country and as I went through them I saw on the front page of the Pope AFB newspaper, that David Kender had won the Silver Star, the United States third-highest medal for valor during combat. Something he simply kept to himself.

As the Internet started to evolve, he and I would begin to exchange the newest invention, emails, a major breakthrough in being able to visit with each other from afar. 

Once during one of his thousands of classes, he was showing his students how to send text through the Internet. I had a little program that allowed me to "call" his computer, through an extremely slow modem, and the messages I would send him would appear on the screen being projected in the classroom. The students were entranced. He warned me beforehand not to send anything risqué.

His awards at Wright State would begin to stack up one upon another, again, without me knowing, until I would search his bio online and see all of the accolades.

Last year, while in Dayton for my 50th High School Reunion, I surprised him and sat in on one of his classes. I was impressed. Here was my brother, at age 75, sharp as ever, sharing his knowledge once again to students who would learn to think for themselves by simply being in his presence.

My life has been blessed having both of my brothers in my life. They have been my mentors, with Dave leading the way.

And Wright State has been blessed to have had such a great teacher to mentor the students.

I look forward to seeing where his next career takes him. I know for me, I will continue to learn, just as everyone who crosses his path will also benefit from his incredible knowledge and teaching skills.

Well done, brother Dave.