Good teachers!

[Slartibartfast]

So reading that bad teachers thread got me thinking about some of the really wonderful people I've had over the years.  Anyone want to share stories of teachers that really did touch their lives?

[NYGirl100]

I do!  My 5th grade teacher was amazing.  She was the one in between the horrible 4th grade ESL teacher and the awful 6th grade teacher that I posted about in the other thread.  My 5th grade teacher would take the time after class to tutor me in English, went out of her way to make sure I understand what's going on in class, and would not tolerate other kids making fun of my accent.  When I got into a good school for college, I called her and told her that without her help, I wouldn't have made it.  She passed away about 5 years ago, and I went to her funeral.  So many of her former students were there because she has touched everyone's lives. 

[ButterflieRJ]

My 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Schwartz, was one of the best teachers I ever had.  In fact, we still email back and forth every once in awhile.  I learned a lot from her, and she really helped shape me into who I am today.

Also, my sr. year high school teachers Mr. Cohen, Mr. Kramer and Mr. Esgar (who I also had freshman year) as well as Mr. Zima (who I had 3 times throughout jr. and sr. years).  They all, in their own way, really helped me get thru high school and senior year.  Zima even got tears in his eyes when I went back special to say bye and thanks to him. 

[dawbs]

I actually have many of those.

I was an "advanced" kid with undiagnosed ADHD...this made me a challenging student in ever so many ways.

There's the sunday school teacher (she gets included, in spite of not being a traditional teacher) who, after her substitute one Sunday kicked me out of class (I had asked to many questions, sub thought I was intentionally being difficult and obnoxious, especially since I inadvertantly made sub look silly [apparently interupting a lesson on hate to ask whether or not hating the devil was allowed and arguing both sides of that (devils advocate to both sided  ) back and forth to get an answer that could fit into my 6 yo theology was not ideal]); the teacher talked to my dad and set up a way for me to make a list of my questions every Sunday so I could ask her before church started or ask dad and not cause chaos
(I only insisted on asking in class because I knew I'd forget by the time I got to ask dad)
(I was still encouraged to be sent with big-sis to her sunday school class if there was a sub...I had apparently made the sub cry. )

There is the high-school biology teacher who knew I was bored out of my skull and knew I had plans to study biology...She told me to go to the library and come back (in anywhere from a few days to a few weeks) when I could explain some biology function to her (like, lactic acid processing in the muscles or photosynthesis)--and I could explain it any way I liked (I usually made comic books filled w/ bad pun--I got extra credit for the bad puns  ).  I knew a ton more about these subjects by the time I hit my Biology major classes a few years later than my peers did.

There was the high-school English teacher who gave up her planning period for an entire year so I could take the AP language test (which I did well on, thank you)

There was the high-school chemistry teacher who was the person who noticed that I was sick all the time, the one who called my mother and told her to get me to the doctor (again).  When she resisted (again), he made a few comments that may have been a veiled threat to call CPS (CPS wouldn't have found anything that could be categorized as neglect or abuse, and Mr. T. knew that... but I hadn't been to the doctor in spite of being sick for 2 years and he knew that too.), so mom took me to the doctor finally (not that it accomplished anything as the doctor blew me off and allowed mom to be in the room during the questioning, but this teacher saw past the "brady family front" and tried to get me some much needed help.)

[Lisbeth]

Well, despite the problems I had with my high school English teachers, I had an English teacher in 7th and 8th grade, Dr. Hoffman, who was really good.  I wish I'd had the maturity to keep my grades up then because a lot of times I underachieved in his class.

He had the originality to give us some really unusual assignments.  Once, he told us to write a poem on a subject that isn't usually written about in poems.  I'd almost forgotten the assignment and came up with a poem on dust, which got an A.  (I'm not sure how I got the idea myself.)

I also had a really funny teacher for Texas history in 7th grade, Mr. Moore, who could say absolutely anything and keep his face completely straight.  He did the same kind of thing as Dr. Hoffman in terms of assignments.

Both men were tough, but very fair.  I must have been spoiled on their teaching methods, because a lot of my high school teachers were much more traditional (and IMO dull).

[Verruca]

When I was in the second grade, I went to my teacher, Mrs. Rhoades, and cried because the other kids in my class made fun of my last name.

Mrs. Rhoades said, "You know what, Verruca, that happens to everyone.  When I was your age, my classmates made fun of my last name.  They called me things like 'street roads' and 'driving roads'..."

And I felt comforted that it had happened to my teacher - it didn't seem so bad.

It wasn't until a few years ago that I realized that Mrs. Rhoades was her married name.  Just thinking of the teasing that she had to make up on the spot to make me feel better, STILL makes me feel better.  

[Cyndi]

I went all the way to 5th grade with absolutely no reading comprehension. I could spell and read words perfectly, but not write sentences because I did not associate the word ball with a bouncing ball, for example. And somehow I kept getting passed along and I absolutely HATED to read and write because it seemed so meaningless.

Then Mrs. Foster came along like my Annie Sullivan. She recognized what was happening to me, sat me down and paired pictures with words until I had an epiphany like Helen at the water pump.

I've loved to read and write ever since!

[IndianInlaw]

Miss Mary Anne Salmen.  I had her in fifth grade and she treated me like I were her own child.  She loved music and she loved to sing.  As an extracurricular activity she taught chorus every Tuesday. Despite my lack of musical ability, she let me in. She had this little gray organ she would play.  It came with this little bench.  The bench was too small for her, so she let me sit on it during chorus. I felt like queen of the school...

Once after we had standardized testing, she took me aside and told me she wasn't supposed to tell students their scores, but that I had done extremely well.

Many years ago, I was waking up from major surgery and imagining I was back in fifth grade.  I was calling for my mom, because I didn't think I could go to school.

We had these two kids, Chris and Mark.  Their older brother had been in Miss Salmen's class a few years prior and she would ask how he was doing.

http://www.tonymacalpine.com/


My other teacher, was my Business Law teacher, Mr. Ferrigno.  He was only a few years older than the students, so he was the fun teacher.  He taught us how to think.  Man, oh man, the trouble I stayed out of because he taught us about contracts and getting specifics.

His only famous student is me, I suppose.

[Lizmo]

My third grade teacher was named Mrs. Raines, and I loved her.  She wrote me a thank you note (one of the only teachers who ever did!) for my Christmas present.  I slept with it under my pillow for a long time, and I still have it at home.  She also made us write in journals, and she would read them and write little notes back to us.  I really felt like she was my friend.  She is the reason I wanted to teach third grade...which I did for 4 years, until I moved up to 4th this year.  And I write thank you notes for everything my kids give me!

[ChristiKayAnn]

My best teacher was my special education teacher in 2nd grade. I was put in the special ed class because my 1st grade teacher didn't think I could read because I never knew where we were in the story when I was called on to read.  (I was usually a few pages ahead or on the next story because the other kids read too sloooow, and I was bored)

The special ed teacher realized what was going on when I tested at a 4th grade reading level and kept me in her class during reading so I could learn at my own pace. When  I was tested at the end of the year I was up to an 8th grade level, because the teacher didn't see the need to send me back into the regular reading groups to be bored.

[freakyfemme]

Definitely my university clarinet teacher.  After spending five years in high school (five years because I did OAC) getting sort of lost in the shuffle of the band, with solos being assigned on the basis of seniority and popularity rather than actual musical ability (I got NONE for four years, then I suddenly got pretty much all of them in OAC), and the fact that the music teachers didn't really have enough time or resources to devote to individual students as much as some of them (including myself) needed it, whether those students were struggling, or they had the opposite problem.....guess which end of the spectrum I was on?  I took lessons from a private instructor in Toronto beginning at the end of grade twelve and all through OAC, when my parents finally got the sense that I was serious about doing music in university, but they were expensive, and my dad couldn't drive me on a regular basis because they would conflict with his precious golf games, so that wasn't really adequate. 

So, I arrived at Bishop's with some major rhythm problems, and since the mentality of high school was "we have to learn this piece quickly," I didn't really slow down and think about what I was doing.  Enter "Claire" (I'd probably embarrass her if I posted her real name on here, lol).  At first, she completely tore me apart, and at first, I was SO frustrated, because it felt like no matter what I did, it wasn't good enough for her.  But after a while, something clicked (no, not just the metronome she kept forcing on me, lol), and I started improving, and we became really close.  Long story short....well, I can't say she *made* me love music, because I did before I started taking lessons with her, but she definitely made a difference.  Before Claire, I was afraid to perform onstage as a soloist (the "solos" I'd played in high school band were just excerpts of full-band pieces), but by the end of my first year, I was not only performing, I won a performance award.  Ever since I started with Claire, I've played in chamber ensembles, chamber orchestra, and as a soloist, and solo is by FAR my favourite.  I told her that I really wished she could continue to be my teacher for grad school, and she said that if I went to McGill or Concordia, it might actually be possible.  Now she's doing everything within her power to get me into McGill (everything ETHICAL, that is, I still recorded my own audition CD and filled out my own applications), which was her alma mater.  She went there for her Master's, I think, and she also just finished a Doctorate there in the fall.   

[Balletmom]

It is so nice to read all the nice teacher stories.

I'm afraid to read the bad teacher stories, in case I recognize myself. 

[IndianInlaw]

McGill....impressive!

[extranormal]

When I was in the second grade, I went to my teacher, Mrs. Rhoades, and cried because the other kids in my class made fun of my last name.

Mrs. Rhoades said, "You know what, Verruca, that happens to everyone.  When I was your age, my classmates made fun of my last name.  They called me things like 'street roads' and 'driving roads'..."

Just like the Kevin Henkes story, Chrysanthemum! A mouse (Chrysanthemum) gets teased for having such a long, unusual name until the beloved music teacher, Mrs. Delphinium Twinkle, sets everyone straight.

[EvilAlice]

I never had any trouble with basic math, but Algebra threw me for a loop.  It was very frustrating to me because I was used to school work coming kind of easily to me.  Every year, I did barely well enough in pre-Algebra then Algebra I then Algebra II to be advanced to the next class.  I sweated blood in every one of those classes and was finally beginning to understand it then, what do they do but push me into GEOMETRY.  The Peter Principle at work here.

I was mentally and math-illy exhausted and just couldn't even begin to comprehend Geometry and honestly had very little interest in putting forth an effort.  I felt like I had reached as high as I wanted to or needed to in the maths (since I was going to be a writer anyway ha ha) and I had a very sour attitude going into Geometry.  My teacher was a very young brand new teacher and didn't really know what to do with me.  He loved his subject and tried so hard to teach me but I was unwilling and unable to learn.  I was probably also taking a lot of his time from other kids who did have an aptitude.

So he sent me to the library and had me research M.C. Esher and let me look at his artwork during class and write very informal essays about them for extra credit so I could scrape by.  He also forced me to concede that Geometry DID matter in at least one aspect of my life- playing pool.  By doing this, he encouraged me to put forth at least a minimal effort and learn a little something and barely pass so we could both get on with doing what we really wanted to do in life.

I appreciated so much that while he quit pushing me to win the war, he did encourage me to keep fighting the battle.  And it was a good lesson in the reality that there is NO subject that has no value whatsoever, even to someone whose interests lie in other areas.  Good ole Mr. Rountree.

Maybe other teachers wouldn't have thought what he did was quite right but frankly I'd have ended up skipping class all the time if he hadn't made some concessions for me.  So he got more into me his way then the hard-nosed way ever would have.  I was a stubborn, surly teenager.  Most teachers would have been happy to NOT have me in their class at that point!