Authenticity

Authenticity is of the utmost importance to me in teaching and in simply being human.  I am always trying to be my fully authentic self.  In teaching one must be an authentic teacher.  As an authentic music teacher, i teach music, but i also show and teach how to love music and love making it.  Students are generally pretty intuitive about whether or not a teacher is authentic.  Inauthentic teachers, besides not being in the profession they should be in, are not engaging for students.  This also ties back to the respect issue.  Students respect authenticity, and it inspires them to learn.  Being authentic lets your self come through the teaching and students are not just learning, but they become inspired.