Teachers
Tonight my family attended a teacher appreciation evening put on by our church. It was well-organized and a lovely event that included gifts for each teacher and a great video of each child saying what they like best about the teacher they chose to invite and honor. My two oldest invited school teachers who could not attend but my younger daughter invited her ballet teacher, who did come. It was wonderfully special to get to actually talk to this good woman who I admire so much for her approach to teaching dance and to see her interacting with my daughter.
Teachers really are a special kind of person. When I was trying to choose a major I went to an English major introduction and all they talked about was becoming an English teacher, which was not what I wanted. I ended up switching my major to journalism so that I could write and not teach because I knew I wouldn't be good at it. It requires a special amount of patience and understanding and love for the subject and your student to be a great teacher. I remembering tutoring a kid in my pre-calculus class who was a year older than me and the principal's son (no pressure!) but it was just baffling to me that he didn't understand what we were learning when it was so clear to me. I admire teachers for being able to teach to different learning styles and personalities and explaining things in various ways.
One of my favorite teachers was Mrs. Herd in second grade. She encouraged us to write books in her class and I wrote many under her guidance. I even got to read one of my books (if I remember correctly it was about my cat) on the local news. She was older but so nice and fun. We had our desks pushed together in groups and I remember she had stuffed animals that she would award our group if we were good. It was always a good day if we got the raccoon because that meant we were the quietest group.
Another teacher I loved was Mrs. Messolella in fifth grade. She was tough but I liked her and appreciated that she pushed us. She made us memorize all fifty states and state capitals and it was sitting on the floor of her classroom I learned that we were going to war in Iraq. She once told me she wished I always had a microphone with me because I was so soft-spoken.
I loved the energy of my sixth grade math teacher, Mr. D, and the organization and preciseness of Mrs. Pearson's classroom, my seventh grade English teacher. My eighth grade social studies teacher, Mr. Remley, was the best at making history interesting and I still remember preparing a project on the roaring 20s that included a radio show and a magazine we had to make.
My 10th grade English teacher became a friend and mentor to me. She was tough and not all students liked her (honestly, it was rather obvious when she didn't like a student either) but I loved her. I loved reading challenging books and getting into deep discussions about their meaning and what we could learn from them. She expected us to work hard and I thrived with the chance to rise to high expectations. Later when I started working on the school newspaper, she was one of the advisers and she challenged me and supported me and encouraged me to push boundaries. She also gave me confidence in my writing abilities, without which I might not have even considered journalism.
My 11th grade English teacher was also fantastic and I adored her. She was kind, funny and compassionate. My calculus teacher, Mr. Camaan, was also a really good man and was so patient and calm. I loved my band teacher, Mr. Green, and will never forget the amazing feeling of playing Armenian Dances at competition and nailing it or laughing so hard the day he accidentally conducted himself off of his chair during a pit orchestra rehearsal. These teachers all knew me as a person and cared about my success and helped me along the way. I had enough not-so-great teachers that it made me appreciate the good ones and recognize that they were something special.
Teachers have great potential to affect children and make a difference that could change them forever. It isn't just about math, reading or science but it is also about appreciating knowledge, learning, persevering, and working hard to succeed. Taking the time to appreciate the good teachers, the ones who actually care about their students and deal with a lot of challenges with patience and grace, is homework we should all try to complete.
Teachers really are a special kind of person. When I was trying to choose a major I went to an English major introduction and all they talked about was becoming an English teacher, which was not what I wanted. I ended up switching my major to journalism so that I could write and not teach because I knew I wouldn't be good at it. It requires a special amount of patience and understanding and love for the subject and your student to be a great teacher. I remembering tutoring a kid in my pre-calculus class who was a year older than me and the principal's son (no pressure!) but it was just baffling to me that he didn't understand what we were learning when it was so clear to me. I admire teachers for being able to teach to different learning styles and personalities and explaining things in various ways.
One of my favorite teachers was Mrs. Herd in second grade. She encouraged us to write books in her class and I wrote many under her guidance. I even got to read one of my books (if I remember correctly it was about my cat) on the local news. She was older but so nice and fun. We had our desks pushed together in groups and I remember she had stuffed animals that she would award our group if we were good. It was always a good day if we got the raccoon because that meant we were the quietest group.
Another teacher I loved was Mrs. Messolella in fifth grade. She was tough but I liked her and appreciated that she pushed us. She made us memorize all fifty states and state capitals and it was sitting on the floor of her classroom I learned that we were going to war in Iraq. She once told me she wished I always had a microphone with me because I was so soft-spoken.
I loved the energy of my sixth grade math teacher, Mr. D, and the organization and preciseness of Mrs. Pearson's classroom, my seventh grade English teacher. My eighth grade social studies teacher, Mr. Remley, was the best at making history interesting and I still remember preparing a project on the roaring 20s that included a radio show and a magazine we had to make.
My 10th grade English teacher became a friend and mentor to me. She was tough and not all students liked her (honestly, it was rather obvious when she didn't like a student either) but I loved her. I loved reading challenging books and getting into deep discussions about their meaning and what we could learn from them. She expected us to work hard and I thrived with the chance to rise to high expectations. Later when I started working on the school newspaper, she was one of the advisers and she challenged me and supported me and encouraged me to push boundaries. She also gave me confidence in my writing abilities, without which I might not have even considered journalism.
My 11th grade English teacher was also fantastic and I adored her. She was kind, funny and compassionate. My calculus teacher, Mr. Camaan, was also a really good man and was so patient and calm. I loved my band teacher, Mr. Green, and will never forget the amazing feeling of playing Armenian Dances at competition and nailing it or laughing so hard the day he accidentally conducted himself off of his chair during a pit orchestra rehearsal. These teachers all knew me as a person and cared about my success and helped me along the way. I had enough not-so-great teachers that it made me appreciate the good ones and recognize that they were something special.
Teachers have great potential to affect children and make a difference that could change them forever. It isn't just about math, reading or science but it is also about appreciating knowledge, learning, persevering, and working hard to succeed. Taking the time to appreciate the good teachers, the ones who actually care about their students and deal with a lot of challenges with patience and grace, is homework we should all try to complete.
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