Reflection and thanks to educators

[Aggie_Ama]

I didn't get Physics at all but I am so glad that I took it and I hated building a car powered by a mouse trap but I am so glad I had to. To this day I still don't know what the physics lesson was but the perserverance lesson sticks with me. That may or may not have been a lesson he intended us to learn.

[tulip]

In elementary school, my favorite teacher was Mrs. Coleman. She inspired me and all the kids loved her. She left teaching a few years after I left that school to become a prison guard so she could support her family. Teachers should be able to support their families by teaching just as well if not better than prison guards. Maybe if the great teachers were paid better, there would be less of a need for prison guards.

In eighth grade I was fortunate enough to get into a very good private school, and I stayed there through high school (until that point the longest I was in one school was two years, mostly I changed school every year). Most of the teachers I had are STILL teaching there (I'm in my 40s!)--they have the lowest turnover ever. Here's to Mr. Gould (history), Mr. Parry (physics), Miss Wallace (English), and Madame Clegg (French). The last two are not teaching there anymore, but they taught me alot. Oh, and even Mr. Willard, whom I really disliked at the time, deserves a toast because he had very high expectations and worked as hard as we did.

[OakLeaf]

wow...

I have very little memory of my early childhood. My second grade teacher went way above and beyond trying to integrate me into her class after I was skipped way too young. My fourth grade teacher was a great support. I had a wonderful English teacher in 9th and 10th grades. I never kept track of any of them.

My high school physics teacher, who shepherded me through adolescence and deftly handled my sickly crush on him - never making me feel rejected yet never allowing any boundaries to be crossed - is now a counselor. My French teacher, brilliant and universally adored, died of AIDS. My English teacher, whose first manuscript I typed for submission, is now a wildly successful author of young adult fiction.

At the age of 74, my mom still adores teaching fourth grade. I wonder what the statistics really are - if teachers are more prone to career change than other service professionals. I know at least one person who went the other way, a lawyer who retired to pursue her dream of teaching middle school.

Heartfelt thanks to all of them - and to all teachers.

[Biciclista]

Aggie, I was never a student that bothered my teachers. However, never in a million years would it have occurred to me to THANK them! On the other hand, I was speaking to a friend of mine in Italy, who is a little older than me. She said "we felt lucky because we were able to attend school at all" you see, that's the difference.

I had few great teachers, and a few mediocre teachers that did great things.
I never did any homework at home until my Algebra teacher said, homework EVERY night, and if you miss 2 nights, you fail my class. That one simple ground rule changed me from a C student to an A student. Because if you sit down to do your Algebra homework, you might as well do all the rest.
Unlike Oakleaf, I can remember all my teachers, and most of their names. I can remember the ones who were unfair, those that favored girls over boys, those who didn't like me because my last name was different from my mother's.
I have managed to contact the three of my teachers who were important to me as an adult. That was fun. You never realize how your words as a teacher are going to affect your students.
When i was a senior, a teacher said to us; "Most children of divorce end up divorced themselves" (a statistic that i am certain is true) This upset me profoundly and I made it my business to prove her wrong. And I tracked her down and told her about it.

Teachers, you have an incredible opportunity to sow seeds in our youth. You never know what rocky fields will grow a tree.

[GraysonKelly]

Aggie,
I hope you don't mind, but I have to chime in on this. First of all, I'm sorry for the loss of your former counselor. That is a very sad thing. Second, thank you for bringing attention to all the unsung heroes who teach. Well, i guess with this thread they aren't unsung anymore.
I raise my morning coffee to Mrs. Fenimore (1st grade) who took a kid with way too much energy and curiosity and focused it. To Ms. Pennington (4th grade) who not only started me early on the path of being a good student, but also took extra time to work with a girl that was just a little too different from the rest of the class. And to Ms. Smith (11th grade) I feel that I owe her a debt that I'll never be able to repay. She opened up not only my mind, but in a lot of ways my soul. I was linear, rigid, and entirely "too much in my head". She helped me to become fluid, flexible, and got me to see and think beyond what was simply written on a page. I owe my love of history and literature and language to her. And while I will never forgive her for making me read "Billy Bud" (we debated that hotly until the end of my high school career), I will never, ever forget what she did for me. I'm not a teacher by profession, but I think the greatest way for me to repay her is to keep learning and doing my best to teach others with the same passion that she taught me.
To all teachers out there, thank you for you effort and your passion and tireless pursuit of education. You are appreciated and loved.
Gray

[Aggie_Ama]

The most profound thing I remember about Ms. Lacey, my counselor, was when my uncle Bocky died. I had missed school to attend the services and being an relatively uncommon last name we shared Ms. Lacey connected why I was out. The next day she called me up after class and asked if I had been out because he was a relative and said yes, explained he was my Pawpaw's brother.

Turns out what I didn't know was Uncle Bocky was very handsome and quite the football player in his younger days. How did Ms. Lacey know? She was a cheerleader and remembered him from those days. She asked if I needed to talk and I said no, did she? We laughed and she said no, but she hadn't thought about cheering in high school for a long time so she was sorry about Bocky but thanks for the memory. It was a nice moment that only I got to share with her and that was cool.

I loved school myself, I looked forward to going back each year. But I was always kind of shy and didn't tell many teachers how great I thought they were. I think I should write a couple of the others letters if I can find their addresses before I read their obits.

[Grog]

This message brings rushing in lots of fond memories of teachers from elementary school through to my Ph.D. (Having been in school for about 20 years, I've had more than my share of teachers.) I loved Thérèse (we called our teachers by their first name) in 5th grade who also had breast cancer when she was my brother's teacher but was much better by the time I had her as a teacher two years later. Last I heard she's doing great. That was, what, 1989, 1990? I remember my mother cutting off a newspaper piece about something to do with reconstructive breast surgery, putting it in an envelope and telling me to bring it to Thérèse...

Is there such a thing as a World Teachers' Day? According to Wikipedia it's on Jan. 13th, but I've never seen it celebrated. Something should be done about that.

[Veronica]

There's a Teacher Appreciation Day in May.

Veronica

[Biciclista]

You'd be surprised how many of your old teachers are still alive and kicking. Many of mine were not much older than me 6-10 years older, and to me they were old women, but really they were in their 20's!
So look them up, and you can expect a really friendly response, at least the three I thanked, two remembered me, one didn't but they were all happy to know that they'd had a positive effect on SOMEONE.