In his first year teaching history at Shady Side Academy, a small private school in Pittsburgh, Matt Weiss was determined to be the “fun” teacher. A natural performer, he went off on long tangents, shared stories from the weekend, and sometimes played guitar during class.

Most students encouraged him. But Kate Schelbe, a junior in his U.S. history class, was not impressed with his antics. She sat stone-faced while other students laughed. A reserved and serious student, she made sacrifices to attend the school and wanted every second of class time to count.

Source: The Atlantic, "What My Students Taught Me"