An Excellent Teacher Does Not Sweat the Small Stuff

Know Some Rules of Probability

By Rafi M. Ali, M.D.

Director of DarusSalam Seminary’s Tadrīs Integrated High School Program

Some of my medical school rotations required considerable road time to reach the destination. Thankfully, there is no significant traffic on Chicago highways.[1]

Most heart attacks occur in the morning. Mondays are popular.[2] Armed with this knowledge, I decided early in life that I would allow myself plenty of time to get to my destinations. If I was to be on the road a lot, there was no way I was going to subject myself to daily traffic induced hypertension.  

Similarly, if a student is late once every twenty days, it doesn’t seem so bad. But if there are twenty students in the class, it is highly probable that one will be shepherding an excuse. Some teachers are exceedingly irked by student tardiness. That would make for bad Monday mornings. Tardiness needs to be addressed but not at the expense of the instructor’s blood pressure.

An Excellent Teacher doesn’t sweat the small stuff. Small disappointments of life are not harbingers of failure.

[1]. Sarcasm (for those unfamiliar with Chicago traffic)

[2]. Salynn Boyles, “Heart Attacks in the Morning Are More Severe,” WebMD (WebMD, April 27, 2011), https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20110427/heart-attacks-in-the-morning-are-more-severe#1.