Collections and Personal Papers:
Faculty Papers: Burton Blatt
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Maxine Nadel Offenbach
Tampa, FL
Dr. Blatt was my incredible teacher at Boston University in 1966 and 67 where he filled our minds as well as our spirits. I remember the energy that exhausted us and inspired us to do better all the time. My successes in both the classroom and in life stem directly back to Dr. Blatt and his basic tenants: “If your student isn't learning something perfectly, it's your fault", he would begin and repeat, "Go home, rethink your methods, your strategies, return to school and re-teach the lesson to your student...better!"
I lived those words, taught in public school for 35 years, built my teaching style based on that principal, shared it with other teachers, trained many interns with those words, and achieved excellence, thanks to Dr. Blatt.
His premature death was a terrible loss; I remember reading of it in a teaching journal. A teacher friend had just called as I was looking through the pages and I just hung up without a word.
I wrote to him just after I married and moved to Florida and Dr. Blatt responded with a lovely note. My father-in-law and Dr. Blatt were very close friends when Burt lived in New Haven. He was very kind and encouraging to my husband also.