As the father of a student, I have experienced first hand what a great teacher is. My son was in the 4th grade last year, and he had a teacher called Miss Green. I believe that when he is an adult he will surely look back on her as the best teacher he has ever had.

    My son has attention deficit disorder(注意力缺损症) that makes it a little more difficult for him to learn.She was able to change her teaching methods for him so that he could keep up with the rest of the class. As a result, he got straight As on many subjects. She regarded her class as a family and they even had their own class song. She would often have them sing it to encourage them and develop a team spirit for them. When she saw that they were no longer listening carefully to what she was teaching, she would have them close their textbooks, stand up all around the room and throw around a small football. This helped them clear their minds and then focus on the lesson again.Besides, she was quick to reply to any phone calls or emails from us and got rid of our worries about children quickly.

    When my son went to the 5th grade this year, we happened to pass her classroom.When she saw my son, her face lit up and she came out and hugged him.She generally loves all of the children in her classroom and that love really shows.I can only pray that my son will continue to get teachers just like her for the rest of his school years.

Empathy

    Last year, researchers from the University of Michigan reported that empathy, the ability to understand other people, among college students had dropped a lot over the past 10 years. That could be because so many people have replaced face time with screen time, the researchers said. Today, people spend more time alone and seldom join groups and clubs.

    Jennifer Freed, a director of a teen program, has another explanation. on the TV, and you're showered with news and reality shows full of people fighting, competing, and generally treating one another with no respect(尊重).  Humans learn by example—and most of the examples on it are anything but empathetic.

    There are good reasons not to follow those bad examples. Humans are socially connected with nature. Having relationships with other people is an important part of being human—and having empathy is important to those relationships. Researchers have also found that empathetic teenagers always have high self-respect. Besides, empathy can be helpful for loneliness, sadness, anxiety, and fear.

    Empathy is also necessary for a good leader. In fact, Freed says, many top companies report that empathy is one the most important things they look for in new managers. Social skills—including empathy—are a kind of “emotional(情感的) intelligence" that will help you succeed in many areas of life. “Tests results are important. But if you don't have emotional intelligence, you won't be as successful in work or in your love life,” she says.

    What's the best way to up your EQ(情商)? For starters, let down your guard and really listen to others. “One doesn't develop empathy by having a lot of opinions and doing a lot of talking,” Freed says. To really develop empathy, you'd better volunteer at a nursing home or a hospital, join a club or a team that has a diverse membership, have a “sharing circle” with your family, or spend time caring for pets at an animal shelter.

    Before I had my son, I spent two years working with children with disabilities. I learnt that shouting and threats of punishment would result in a disaster. Coming up against their behaviour could only make the job harder and their behaviour more extreme. I found something that worked, though.

    There was a very naughty boy in the nursery and a teacher who was generally very confident with the children was asked to take charge of him. One day the boy joined a session in the room next to mine. His appearance created an atmosphere of tension. He spent the entire session running around, hitting and kicking, and destroying property.

    I was in the craft room working with some other children when my co­worker told me that this boy's teacher was in tears, and could not get control of the situation. As we were talking, the boy ran in. I told my co­worker that I would take care of him.

    I closed the door. He was full of energy, throwing things around and making a huge mess. But I could see that he was doing all these to annoy me. He needed connection, and this was the only way he knew how to ask for it. So I sat back down and kept quiet. Then he slowed down and began making a rocket. I talked to him about it. We continued like this for a few minutes before I slipped into the conversation：

    “So what happened today？”

    It was purely a question, no blame or anger in my tone. I believe that if I had criticized him, the gate that was slowly opening would have shut firmly closed. He told me that the teacher didn't let him do what he knew well due to safety but asked him to do what he disliked. He also admitted that he had enjoyed making her run around and saw it as a game. I explained that his teacher had not seen it as a game and was very upset. This again was stated simply as a fact. I suggested that next time he had a session, he talk about what he hoped to do at the start, which might be easier for everyone. He agreed and was quiet for a moment. Then he looked at me with tears in his eyes before quietly asking if he could go to find his teacher to apologize.

    Bees in a colony work with each other to gather food, and they try to find the most nectar (花蜜)in the least amount of time possible. A small number of bees work as searchers, but when a good flower patch (花丛) is found, how do they tell other bees where to find it?

    Bees communicate flower location using special dances inside the hive, where bees live. One bee dances while the other bees watch. The dancing bee smells like the flower patch, and also gives the watching bees a taste of the nectar she has gathered. Smell and taste helps other bees find the correct flower patch. Bees use two different kinds of dances to communicate information: the waggle (摇摆) dance and the circle dance.

    Waggle dance

    The waggle dance tells the watching bees two things about a flower patch's location: the distance and the direction away from the hive.

A. Distance

    The dancing bee waggles back and forth as she moves forward in a straight line, then circlesaround to repeat the dance. The length of the middle line, called the waggle run, shows roughly how far it is to the flower patch.

B. Direction

    Bees know which way is up and which way is down inside their hive, and they use this to show direction. How? Bees dance with the waggle run at a specific angle away from straight up. Outside the hive, bees look at the position of the sun, and fly at the same angle away from the sun.

    Circle dance

    The circle dance tells the watching bees only one thing about the flower patch's location: that it is somewhere close to the hive.

    In this dance, the bee walks in a circle, turns around, then walks the same circle in the opposite direction. Sometimes, the bee includes a little waggle as she's turning around. The duration of this waggle is thought to indicate the quality of the flower patch.

Dear Mr. Whitacre,

I fell in love with a "flying Dutchman"…literally. In the summer of 2011, I moved to the Netherlands not knowing anyone except my husband, not knowing how to speak the language, and leaving behind my friends, family, and everything I knew that represented me. But as they say, "Love is blind."

In the beginning, I spent many months "alone in my head." My mother-in-law didn't speak English (or Italian). This, however, didn't stop her from trying to communicate with me. At first, sounds of vague meanings coupled with hand gestures was our way of having a conversation.

It wasn't until I discovered she was a choral (合唱的) director for a women's group in the community that we then began communicating on a whole different level. From my early days in school, I was always part of a school choir for over a decade.

We shared a love of music! Dien (my mother-in-law's name) taught me many beautiful Dutch songs. I sang in her choir throughout the years that followed. And then by chance, I came across a TED-Talk featuring you, Mr. Whitacre discussing your music and the virtual (虚拟合唱团) choir. Within minutes, I researched when the next project would start and to my surprise, it was Virtual Choir4" Fly To Paradise." I couldn't wait to tell my mother-in-law!

The next 2 weeks we spent practicing our parts and perfecting our video submissions. It was pure joy for us. Something we shared a love for, encouraging each other, spending hours together, and making a permanent bond as a mother and daughter-in-law.

Music has always been a part of my life. Its significance is greater than anything most people are aware of. Our participation in your virtual choir is one I will never forget. And it goes without saying, I am grateful for you, your music, and its ability to connect us all.