Who Taught Me?

In Prompt #3: The Writing on Learning Exchange: Who Taught You by Siobhan Curious, she asks,

“This week’s prompt: Who have you learned from?  What did he/she teach you?”

I guess I’m in another weird situation because not one person taught me the main things but several people have taught me many important things about life. Some are no longer living, some are, and some I have no idea where they are. So, let’s begin!

My professional life:

I had a wonderful third grade teacher who made me love school more than I ever thought I could. She challenged me and praised me every day. Learning was fun and doing well was even better. I wasn’t expected to be perfect but I was expected to do my best. Reading was the best part of her class and it was encouraged every free moment we had. I never wanted to leave her class. I knew that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up and wanted to be just like her!

My fourth grade teacher was a nightmare I will never forget. She was a perfectionist and physically abused students when they gave a wrong answer. She would pull them out of their desks and bang their heads against the cinder block walls. Then we were threatened that if we ever told on her, she would get us next. I had the beginning of an ulcer that year and it was the first time I ever went to the doctor. Needless to say, I was a straight A student and did not make mistakes so I was never abused but the threat was still there. I didn’t realize until a year or two later that she had been engaged, married, abused by her husband (which is why she wore sunglasses to class), and was divorced in that one year I was in her class. In fact, she had such an impact on me that I never told my family about her abuse until I was married and out of college. Even though she was awful, she taught me a lot. She taught me that I never wanted to be a teacher like her. I never wanted my students to be afraid of making mistakes. I never wanted my students to be afraid of telling their parents about school. This was a teacher that I never wanted to be and used her example to review my teaching practices at the end of every school year of my career.

My personal life:

My parents: My parents worked hard raising three daughters. My mother was a stay at home mom and my father worked in a restaurant. I don’t believe he had any sort of pension plan or health insurance. I learned to stay healthy and take care of myself and was given home remedies if I was sick. I loved peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and had it for lunch every day of my school career and give it a lot of credit for my good health which also resulted in perfect attendance. My mother made all of clothes for school and my father spent a lot of time with me on his one day off from work. We had dinner together as a family every day even if it meant that we ate dinner as soon as I got home from school because my father left for work soon after that. I’m not sure I ever told my mother how much I appreciated her when she died at the age of 59 but as I get older, I feel like I can see more and more the many sacrifices she made for me. I realize now that she did without so many things so that I could have so many things. My father is still going strong at the age of 93 and I work hard to let him know how much I appreciate all that he taught me such as having a strong work ethic is very important and that family is important too.

My oldest sister: She taught me to enjoy life because you never know how long you will live. She was diagnosed with lupus when she was about 18 and since they didn’t know much about it, she wasn’t given long to live. She lived for 9 more years and didn’t die until she was 27 years old (I was 15 at that time). She appreciated every day she was still alive and even though I was so much younger than her, we were very close and I learned to appreciate life with her. I learned that I couldn’t worry about the “what ifs” and I need to live in the “here now” or I would miss out on many wonderful things.

My husband: He has taught me to start every day with the right attitude. No matter how I am feeling, I need to be thankful for each day and be happy that I’m alive. In fact, he actually says that out loud every day. He gives me a kiss good morning every day and lets me know how much he loves me. I learned how much this can mean to someone because I know how much it means to me. I learned to appreciate being alive and being thankful for the people in my life!

So, now I ask you, who taught you and what have you learned?

Photo by one of my family members but I’m not sure who.

My First School Memories

In Prompt #1: The Writing on Learning Exchange: Learning About School from Classroom as Microcosm by Siobhan Curious, she says,

“Welcome to the Writing on Learning Exchange!  Every week or two I will publish a prompt that is meant to get us thinking and writing about some aspect of our learning and/or teaching experience.  Whether you are a teacher, a learner, a parent or just a citizen who cares about the growth and development of other citizens, I hope you will find some inspiration here.

So here’s the first prompt: What are your first memories of going to school?”

I have some early school memories and it was my first year of school. Here they are:

New Clothes - I remember buying brand new clothes and shoes for the first day of school. I was so excited because it seems like I had waited for years to go to school! (I think I was only 5 at the time).

Crayons - My parents bought me a brand new box of Crayola crayons - the 64 count box. As soon as I got to school, the box opened up and all of the crayons fell to the ground. Most of them broke and many were lost in the crowd of kids. We were hurried to a classroom and I never got my crayons back.

School Bus - I was 5 years old and it was the one and only time I rode a school bus. My two older sisters (10 and 12 years older than me) and my parents watched me get on the bus. Later in the day, the bus brought me home…or should I say, close to home. The bus driver let me off at a stop that was not my stop and I was lost. I didn’t know how to get home and started crying but soon a neighbor saw me and brought me to my house. My parents were furious and my father jumped in the car to hunt down the bus driver. I think he said a lot of angry words to her when he caught up with her. That was the last day I ever rode a school bus to school.

These are my earliest memories and I’m surprised at how I can still remember them after almost 50 years later. I guess this is proof that as teachers, we can make a powerful impact on children.

What are your earliest school memories? Please share.

Image: 'school friends'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/73645804@N00/1384954600
Found on flickrcc.net

Empowered by Leadership

In What ways has leadership empowered you to become a better teacher? Dean Shareski asks,

“What ways has leadership empowered you to become a better teacher?”

The principal that I remember the most is the one who influenced me the most. I probably grew the most professionally under him and he was the one that I spent the least amount of years with during my teaching career.

Here are ways that his leadership had empowered me:

He believed in me and never showed any doubt in my ability to be a good teacher.

He made me feel appreciated by what he said to me and the things he noticed that I did. He might mention this at a faculty meeting or even drop a short note in my mailbox.

He asked my opinion about how his decisions might affect my students. This may not have changed his decision but he let me know that my input helped him with his decision making. Sometimes it did change his decision.

He didn’t show favoritism to some teachers over others and tried to be fair and consistent.

His door was always open to teachers and if we had a problem, we knew we could go to him.

He encouraged me to try new things with the philosophy that if it didn’t work, we would just try something else. It never hurt to try.

He expected more of me than I thought I could do and I rose to the occasion. (I think I need to do that more with my students.) I accomplished what he asked and even surprised myself.

He encouraged me to grow professionally and made sure that I had opportunities to do so.

He treated teachers as professionals and expected them to act that way. Sometimes some administrators treat teachers as if they are the students.

This administrator stands out so much in my mind and I will never forget him. I truly believe it is his actions that helped me be a better teacher.

Image: 'Chapter 6: Empowering Self, Empowering Others'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59217476@N00/6156596701

Great Imitators

I saw this great youtube video on Children See. Children Do. from edu.blogs.com and Ewan McIntosh stated,

“Children see. Children do. All teachers are aware of this as a concept, many parents, too. If you're a loud, stressed out, unhappy teacher then you'll generally have loud, stressed out and unhappy students in your class.”



I watched the video and it made me sad for the many children who see things like this and feel it is alright to act this way. But I also liked what Ewan had to say about the influence of teachers.

I remember I had a third grade teacher Miss Simms and she was wonderful. She shared her love of reading and learning new words and I wanted to be just like her. By giving praise and singling out each student’s strengths, she made us all feel special. That year I remember feeling that I could try anything and succeed. It was a wonderful feeling. Because of her, I probably learned more in that year than I did any other year of public school. No one else was ever able to make me feel the way I did in her class. But I knew if I ever became a teacher, I wanted to be one just like her.

Do you notice your students imitating you? Are you a stressed out screamer or are you a calm encourager? Which one do you want to be? Which one do you want your students to be?