Educators

Sadly, bad teachers make a difference in the lives of students. Sometimes, a bad teacher will facilitate a student to motivate himself to learn to prove he is not the moron she claims he is. She will inspire him to reach for greater heights than the mediocrity in which she wallows. She may even give him the template for what he never wants his classroom to be: a place of belittling and ridicule and threats. Not all students are confrontational enough to take this direction though.

Good teachers are facilitators. That is they make it easier for students to move forward or gain access to new knowledge and skills.

Great teachers facilitate and inspire, both by the lessons they lead, and their treatment of students.

Phenomenal teachers facilitate knowledge and skills, inspire responsible behavior and the development of ethics and morals, and create an environment where even the most terrified student feels safe and protected.

True teachers reach every student at his or her level and pushes or pulls (which ever is most called for) every individual to levels of greater success. Contrary to the old cliche, the student can and often does surpass his teacher. That should the goal of every teacher.

When trying to understand an unfamiliar phrase, break it into the separate words with their meanings.

Marginal means related to being at the edge or margin of something.

A margin is the space along the edges of an area.

A teacher is one who instructs, formally at a school.

So let's return to marginal and consider an example: a piece of paper.

The middle area of an 8.5 by 11 inch paper gives plenty of room to write or type. A margin is only a fraction of the whole, and provides no room for the very important writing.

Let's use an example of wetlands. An area floods and is soggy with water even without rain. But on the margins, there are places where it is not so wet. It could even be dry.

*Something being marginal is not necessarily "bad", but the margin spaces are neither the thing nor is it not the thing. A margin is still part of the piece of paper, but it is not the most important part of the piece of paper. A marginal wetlands is neither fully wet...nor fully dry. It's in-between, even mediocre in some examples. If something is "marginally good" it is only slightly better than being bad or awful.

So a marginal teacher is a teacher, by education and certificate. But the person is not a very good teacher. He or she is not very competent, even if the person passed the tests.

It would be clearer to say a "marginally poor teacher", a "marginally inept teacher", or a "marginally incompetent teacher", because that is what is being implied.

Other examples:

• It was a marginally tasty meal. - Means it was not very tasty.
• She showed a marginally unfriendly smile. - Means her smile seemed fake; she wasn't very friendly.
• Her kind words and welcoming hospitality erased her marginally unfriendly smile. - Means her smile said unfriendly, but her words and actions proved she was very friendly.

From Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101_(number)

At universities in Australia, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, often the course number of basic or entry-level courses is 101. By extension, it is informally used elsewhere to indicate things that are meant for beginners. At universities with four-digit course numbers, the equivalent course number is 1001 or 1010. A "crash course." An example would be English 101, its the same thing as remedial English or Crash Course of English. This usage is not common in the United Kingdom.

So basically, "English 101" means "English for Beginners".