Thursday Thirteen #43

Thanks to Loretta for the Header Design!

Today I am going to our district's Teacher of the Year Luncheon. I was privileged to receive this honor from the district several years ago. Now, my DH and I sponsor an annual grant for the Teachers of the Year, so we get to attend the luncheon. It's always fun to see excellent teachers get honored for their hard work.

Soooooooo.....for my TT....I am choosing to tell you about MY FAVORITE TEACHERS ever. Here they are in chronological order:

1. Mrs. Hudson: She was my first grade teacher and the person who taught me to love reading. I remember we had a contest to see who could read the most books. Her classroom was filled with Dr. Seuss books. I read the most. I received a little resin mouse as an award that year. I still have it. She gave it to me on the last day of school. I was heartbroken because I was sure that I would NEVER have another teacher that I adored like this one. (But I was wrong.)

2. Mrs. Woodruff: She was not my homeroom teacher, but did third grade enrichment in the days of "Open Classrooms". We went to her for special reading groups. I remember making our own movies in there, learning to carve apple dolls, and dressing up in Kimonos for a Japanese meal. I also know that she is the first person to tell me that I was a creative writer. It meant so much to me. The story I wrote was from a calendar picture of a doll walking along the road with a teddy bear. I don't remember the story, only that she liked it and told my Mother. I was so proud.

3. Mrs. Brewer: My fourth grade teacher always started the day with a silly little rhyme---Itty bitty fwy upon the wall/Him got no fwiends at all/Him got no one to comb hims hair/Him don't care/Him got no hair! Why I remember that so many years later, I'll never know. She also was the first teacher I remember having an aquarium. I loved watching the salamander that she had in there.

4. Mrs. Dretzka: She loved ceramics! We made a ton of things in her sixth grade classroom. It was a hot non-air conditioned school in inner city Tampa with HUGE windows and loud fans. She loved to laugh. I remember her desk was a MESS! It is something I still think of when I look at my own messy teacher desk. She would say, "Show me a teacher's desk that is spic and span, and I'll show you a teacher who isn't working very hard!" I should say that I DO know many teachers who work VERY hard and can keep beautiful desks....I also know that there those like me, and Mrs. Dretzka, who keep teaching and keep piling the desk for things that we needed to "get to"...and both styles are OK!

5. Mr. Psyche: Yep, that was his name. He was my seventh grade Science teacher. I don't remember too much about him, except that I got in trouble in his class. The one thing that sticks out for me, though, is when he had to teach us the "birds and the bees" lesson. He used I Corinthians 13 to tell us about "real love". It was a risk for sure in the public school even in the mid 70's. I also remember he wore a purple shirt with a pearl tie fairly regularly. The whole tie was made out of pearls! We laughed at it, but he loved it.

6. Mrs. S_____: I can't remember this teacher's last name (only that it started with an "S"). Anyway, she was my Social Studies teacher in the eighth grade. You might ask, "If she's so special, why don't you remember her name?" I don't know. She was the person who told us that we still needed to be creative even though we were in middle school. She had us do projects with construction paper and scissors---something totally out of character for teachers at that level at that time.

7. Mr. Andrews: I took World History from him in the tenth grade and LOVED it! I learned so much. He loved kids and loved teaching. Every day was an adventure as he taught us the history of our world.

8. Mrs. Sutherland: I would be remiss if I didn't mention my Chorus teacher. She loved music. She was someone who was told all her life that she couldn't sing, then ended up teaching choir. Amazing! She, too, loved kids and taught us the joy of all kinds of music. I learned to love the poetry of Walt Whitman and Robert Frost in her class as we sang some of their works set to music. My favorite is still "The Road Not Taken" by Frost.

9. Mrs. Haynes: She was my English teacher in eleventh and twelfth grade. She loved soccer and was a Tampa Bay Rowdies fanatic. People called her "Hank". She also loved the classics. This is where I read Wuthering Heights and Julius Ceasar. She taught me to love and appreciate both.

10. Mr. Acosta: He was not my "teacher by day", but was the band director at my school. He taught us self-discipline...to seek excellence...to believe in ourselves among MANY other lessons. I learned more on the field and in performance than I did in some regular classrooms during my high school years. When I watch Mr. Holland's Opus...I think of him. This man has touched countless lives through his tireless work in music education. He spent hours beyond his duty day teaching us all the value of hard work and teamwork, both lessons I have carried into my adult life.

11. Dr. Little: She was my first Education professor in college. I took Intro. to Ed with her as I sought a major and found my life's passion as a result. This was a lady who believed that education could be different and that teachers were such an important part of it. She taught us that ALL children can learn...and that most of them just needed love and someone who believed in them passionately. Her inspirational classes left me believing that I "COULD" and "WOULD" make a difference in the lives of those I teach.

12. Dr. Wynn: She was my supervising teacher for my internship. Because she was fresh out of an elementary classroom, she brought much excitement to our classes. She constantly pushed us to "pretty up" what we were doing for kids by adding pictures, bright contact paper, and to think BIG. She also was working on her PhD and taught us the value of peer coaching (way before it was en vogue). It is because of her that I have never minded anyone watching me teach and that I've been able to take feedback.

13. Dr. Peaslee: She was the Early Childhood Professor in my college. This woman is, without a doubt, the sole reason I STAYED in education. I had an advisor who told me repeatedly that I'd never make it as a teacher. She told me to "get out". She suggested that I wasn't good enough, smart enough, and would never be "effective enough". Dr. Peaslee, though, watched me teach kids (something the advisor never did) and said, "I know what she's been saying about you. She's wrong! You are going to be a GREAT teacher! Don't give up." I learned from that experience that you can either be discouraging or encouraging...we all have the choice everyday. Everyday I try to follow Dr. Peaslee's wonderful example.

Each of these people made special "deposits" into my learning bank. I can honestly say, many of them are the reason I do what I do today. And some, I've been able to tell exactly what they mean to me as an adult. They ARE a reminder that we never know the difference we might make with the seeds we plant in someone else's life.

Do YOU have a teacher who made a difference for you? If so, maybe you'll get the chance to say "thank you" someday. If not, then I say "Pay it forward" and pass along the special lessons you learned to someone else...after all that's the best response anyone could give!