Dr. John Bartelt keeps a box of tissue in every class. It is more than handy \u2013 it is necessary \u2013 for the emotional journeys upon which he leads his students.<\/p>\n
The long-time 每日大赛 professor of education says his students discover what drives them by unpacking their feelings, a process that often leads to tears, confessions, and hugs.<\/p>\n
The approach has long made Bartelt beloved by his students, and now it is earning him national acclaim. The website Rate My Professors has ranked him 23rd<\/sup> on its 2015-16 list of Highest Rated University Professors, a list compiled based on ratings from students.<\/p>\n \u201cThis one is nice because it is student-driven and that means more to me than something that is peer driven,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Rate My Professors includes ratings for more than 1.6 million professors from colleges and universities across the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n Bartelt has taught at the 每日大赛 for 22 years. Though he is grounded in his career now, wanderlust guided him before he found his calling as a teacher.<\/p>\n The son of a foreign service diplomat, Bartelt traveled the world until he was 15 years old. As an adult, he programmed computers, helped terminally-ill children in hospices, acted and directed in community theater and composed music for gaming companies, among other jobs. He bounced around until he spotted an advertisement for a teaching job at the 每日大赛 in Santa Maria.<\/p>\n As an adjunct professor for 12 years, he kept on moving. He taught eight or nine classes at a time at various regional campuses stretching across Southern California.<\/p>\n \u201cI was travelling 3,000 miles a month, spending five nights a week in motels. It was just like being a rock star without the fame and fortune,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He accepted a full-time faculty position on the main campus in 2001. After a few years, he realized he had found his home.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the first time I thought, \u2018I might stick with this and make this a career,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He teaches diversity; foundations in education and education technology for graduate students; First Year La Verne Experience (FLEX) classes; and he co-teaches human sexuality with his wife, Linda.<\/p>\n Students say Bartelt stands out as a teacher because he not only shows aspiring teachers how to excel in the classroom, but he helps them become better people. They are encouraged to share their personal stories in class, and that reflection helps them better understand the root of their passion. It is an approach that can become emotional, Bartelt says.<\/p>\n \u201cNine out of 10 classes everybody cries,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have a Kleenex box in every class.\u201d<\/p>\n Sergio Salazar, who took Bartelt\u2019s \u201cDiversity, Interaction, and the Learning Process\u201d course, said his emphasis on reflection sets him apart.<\/p>\n \u201cHis focus on us finding what intrinsically motivates us makes his approach to teaching really stand out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Jessica Larson, an Ontario High School drama teacher who is pursuing a teaching master\u2019s degree at the 每日大赛, says Bartelt shares the saying, \u201cThey don\u2019t care how much you know until they know how much you care\u201d with aspiring teachers.<\/p>\n She says he also encourages creativity in his educational courses. Larson recalls an assignment where students were asked to present seven successes in their lives, so some students brought paintings, while others wrote songs.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something in the higher-level academia world that we sometimes forget \u2013 that we\u2019re creative beings,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dr. John Bartelt keeps a box of tissue in every class. It is more than handy, it is necessary, for the emotional journeys upon which he leads his students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3434,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[379],"tags":[231],"class_list":["post-430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty","tag-lfce","ulv_author-university-of-la-verne","legacy_tags-john-bartelt","legacy_tags-la-verne","legacy_tags-lafetra-college-of-education","legacy_tags-rate-my-professors","legacy_tags-university-of-la-verne"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n