“While I sometimes believe the future depends on creating the perfect syllabus, the ultimate abstract plan of how we will spend our time, I know that the course will depend on the actual human beings who inhabit the space with me.”
Aeron Haynie
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/mama_phd/motherhood_after_tenure_teaching_in_dark_times
Leslie Gates 
I love that quote. I think I see that spirit embodied in classes that successfully incorporate active participation (rather than blank stares and silence).