I teach, I hope that I educate, and in the process I continue to make grand assumptions about what students should and/or should not know beyond the confines of their subject area or chosen field. I believe that I support my students and offer them multiple opportunities to learn and participate and exercise their sense of understanding within the physical, virtual, and intellectual spaces provided. I do however get cranky towards the end of a semester when I am asked questions from students, the answers to which I believe they should know or at least know how to go about finding. Yet somehow I need to continue to find that small and compassionate part that stops me from really understanding that some students, no matter where they are in their life journey, really do not have any grasp of the basics. When I am asked the impact of a 10% assignment on a final grade when a student gets 5 out of 15 marks on an assignment – I should walk them through the process regardless of how many times I have explained this to the class as a whole. I should not judge the student for their lack of attention or attendance even though I do. I need to recognize that we will all develop a level of success in our life based, to some degree, upon the nature and/or nurture elements in our upbringing and although my few moments of frustration or compassion may or may not change a life, it just might show someone the worth and value of a teacher.