Favorite Teachers

I can't sleep and this is a topic that I don't remember as a thread. Betty Faisig mentioned a fourth grade teacher that was special to her. I mentioned how Miss Redmond brought the power of Macbeth to the classroom with a fake cauldron.

I thought we could use this thread to tell about those teachers who made our lives special either in school or later as we remembered them.

Miss Redmond and Miss Coutchie were my favorite teachers, both H. S. English teachers and both acted like I was something special, a young woman of promise, destined to greatness as an author some day. Mr. Hedberg at the Community College was also a favorite - because he hurt my feelings by not reading my creative writing papers and just putting an "A" on them. He would tell me I should be teaching the class; but I really hungered for his comments. Those are the three teachers I remember best except for..

My freshman college humanities professor. We were all in love with him. He lived on campus and he and his lovely wife and family often hosted students around his fire in his home. I felt so "collegiate." It was how I imagined a small college atmosphere. Then, he disappeared. He had an affair with one of the freshman students and was fired and moved off campus; the girl quit school. It all put a pall on the rest of the semester - as if perfection had been shattered forever and professors were not so wonderful after all.

Sixth grade...Mother Mary Clare...My first realization that nuns were real people. This was back when the nuns still wore the full black habits with the starched white linen around their face. I remember the first time I saw her, my first thought was she was far too pretty to be a nun. She was the nicest person I ever knew (next to my lovely bride). In the eight years I was in that school, I don't ever remember seeing her without a smile. She was always organizing a softball or touch football games at lunch or recess and joining in.
In her class she made learning fun. When I left for the Seminary, she came to the airport to see me off. When I came home two years later, she was the first one I told I wasn't going to be a priest, for some reason I felt I owed her an explanation.

To be honest, I became a teacher because I had so few that were really good. There were exceptions who showed me what teaching could be, and they were my heroes. The first was Miss Durham, my 6th grade teacher. By that time, I hated school. I felt we were all being asked to do things that were meaningless, and even stupid. I had, more or less, stopped participating. There was nothing wrong with my grades - nothing great, either. I couldn't see any value in doing homework, because I could pass the tests without it. I knew I wasn't going to fail the class, and making "A"'s presented another problem. My father did not want a "smart" daughter. His sister had been one, and she had lived an unhappy, short life. Smart women were an anachronism in our culture. They simply did not fit. My dad was afraid for me; my mom was disappointed with the person I was becoming. I'm not sure what she did want, but I clearly wasn't it.

Miss Durham changed all that. After the first few weeks of school, she asked if I would help her out by teaching the slowest group to read. I read all of the time - another thing my mother hated - so I was ahead of the rest of the class and didn't really need instruction, so she put me to work. All of a sudden, I felt valuable to someone. I had peers looking up to me and the approval of the adults in my daytime world. And, I had found my calling. There were others along the way, like Mr. Shaw, my seventh grade math teacher, who convinced my parents that I needed to start Algebra a year early, Mrs. Blakeney, who chose me to teach her classes the day the 9th grade students took over the school; Mrs. Dodd, my junior English teacher, who chose my first research paper, on the poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay, as the one to be read to the rest of the class. And my Sr. English teacher, Mrs. Lowell, who convinced me that I should enter the school's reading and declamation contest, and helped me to practice for it - it was one of the few things I actually won, and much of the reason was her support, and her saying "you can do this."

On the outside, my home life looked ideal. It was physically comfortable. Most people in town seemed to think I was capable and pretty, even though my mother was constantly critical of my appearance and of my ability to do any of the things ladies were supposed to do, like cooking and keeping house. My parents were looked up to and respected, and as I look back, I am beginning to see that they were doing the best they could do, all things considered, but it was still a lot like Betty said; it was those teachers who made the difference because they accepted me the way I was and did not expect me to conform to some standard that was just not me.

That's why I became a teacher. I wanted to be like Miss Durham, Mr. Shaw, and Mrs. Lowell, and help young people find out who they were, what they were good at doing, and so to have a place in the world as productive adults.

Ann

Ann, I wish I had a teacher like you. I make comments on another thread about teachers.

Abe, any chance of copying those comments and bringing them over here? Or is it a teacher's thread? If so, we could combine it.

Here is the comment I posted:

Ann, DK & Betty. Good posts all.

As expressed, we are drawn
to those who we feel share our values. How a person treats an animal is
a good indication of the person's character.
Consider how a horse
is trained for riding. Some do it with kindness others with force.
Would you feel more secure riding a horse trained by force or kindness?

Teachers
in my view are similar. Encouraging the student, showing kindness gets
better results than by demand. I experienced both. To this day, I
remember the teacher who was brutal, unkind and forced learning. I also
remember with fondness the teacher who made learning fun, who smiled
and gave me the feeling that she cared about me. Teachers have a great
influence on the lives of the students. More attention should be given
to teachers and their training. It is not just the ability in teaching a
subject, but how to stimulate learning in the child. I am not a
teacher and my opinions are as an observer. My son is a teacher and I
get feedback of problems he faces with students. One of the biggest
problems in his experience is with discipline. Those who want to learn
-vs- those who attend class because it is mandatory is a challenge for
any teacher. Control by the teacher is limited due to restrictions
placed on them.
In an private school it is especially problematic.
Fees keep the school running and if a student is withdrawn by the
parent the potential loss of income dictates how much a teacher can or
cannot do. Kids know this and some push the teacher to the limit of
tolerance.

Teachers who teach because they love their job are,
in my view, the best. Those who teach simply because it is a job and
provides an income do not have the interests of the student at heart. I
could be totally wrong about this, however that is my take on it.

My comment on Abe's comment:

All of my children chose to go into education, so I get a lot of feedback, even though it has been ten years since I retired. Susan, as a counselor, has the opportunity to work closely with students who come in with issues that affect their ability to work. Dave and his Lyn are now tenured professors in a university that is dedicated to teaching future teachers. Lynn is a middle school administrator now, and gets frustrated by the demands of parents who have a great deal of power, but not necessarily the knowledge of what needs to be done in the classroom.

When I first started teaching, the old rule of en loco parentis still applied: while children were at school during the day, the teachers and staff served as parents, and the students were expected to follow their instructions.

One of the other things that concerns Lynn is the lack of funding, including funds to pay decent salaries. If you want to attract good teachers, you have to pay them well, and then trust them to do their job. Not many teachers are in it for the money because there isn't that much to be had. It's one of the reasons the best teachers soon become administrators and counselors. But that creates a situation that is a bit like our problems with politics. From their "higher" perspective, these leaders sometimes lose sight of what is really happening in the classroom, and the central offices get padded with unnecessary positions while those doing the work of teaching become powerless, caught between the administrators and parents. When teaching is a respected profession, the best candidates will be attracted. Pay them well and let them do the job they were trained for and meant to do.

Discipline is not often a problem for a staff that realizes that each student has a unique value and purpose, and relates to them from that perspective. It is not so much, in that setting, about the qualities of individual teachers as it is a community of educators whose common goal is to see all students succeed. I had the privilege of working in two such communities. The programs worked. In both instances, that made the central office uncomfortable, and they tightened control, and insisted on interfering, and the programs suffered - which meant the students suffered as well.

Ann

As in any profession, there will be those with a natural gift to teach and those who are well-trained, without the gift. Students may learn equally from both depending on the nature, nurture and circumstances of the student. Some children do best with kindness, others with a stern taskmaster who is fair. Most children are very aware of the word, "fair."

In our day, and still today, the teacher is critical to a child's performance; but so is reinforcement from home and peer pressure. A lot of the learning factors are difficult to control. In my day, the ruffians went to the principal and those who didn't follow instructions and performed poorly flunked a year. They never seemed to quite catch up either.

I think the future with the use of technology will be less dependent on teachers and more dependent on pedagogy that combines with technology. Students will identify less with teachers - and where they place their identification is still an open question - perhaps on a virtual or holographic image that can project to the needs of each individual student.

9/30/2012

I remember in the 4th or 5th grade I had a teacher , her name

Mrs. Siegel, she was petite and always dressed well. One day she

asked the class who would like to order a book to read, she brought

in a magazine where you could order books, I went over it carefully

until I settled on an author by the name of Frank Edwards, he wrote

books titled: " Stranger Than Fiction, " " Stranger Than Fact." I choose

the first one, then she announced if we brought in seventy five cents

she would order our books, she also told us it was important to read

the newspaper, so I started reading the NY Daily News everyday. Then

I joined the Public Library and took out books on subjects that inetrested

me. She was an English teacher and I have never forgotten her.....Years

ago I woked for a lady named Susan who was originally from Austria and

she was an Industrial Film Producer ( I worked for her for 5 years,) we had

lunch in her office one day and she said to me: " Joe, you intrigue me." I

said why ?" She said: " Your always looking for information, you want to know

things, it's almost as if you drink in knowledge, When you die I want you to

leave me your brain." Till this day we both laugh about it, we have remained

good friends for 32 years, she's now 86.. She used to make films for Shering

Plough, Volkswagon and the military, I ran her office.

Cheers..Joe...

dkchristi wrote:

In our day, and still today, the teacher is critical to a child's performance; but so is reinforcement from home and peer pressure. A lot of the learning factors are difficult to control. In my day, the ruffians went to the principal and those who didn't follow instructions and performed poorly flunked a year. They never seemed to quite catch up either.

And I made a career out of teaching just those groups. Many of whom not only finished high school, but went on to college, including a "ruffian" who now has a PhD in philosophy, and teaches at a university. I would never have been able to do that in a traditional classroom. The two schools where I taught were both aimed at saving the ones who were slipping through the cracks. It took all of us, working as a team. Small groups, small staff, small classes - individual attention, and a commitment to the concept that all students can learn.

Quote :

I think the future with the use of technology will be less dependent on teachers and more dependent on pedagogy that combines with technology. Students will identify less with teachers - and where they place their identification is still an open question - perhaps on a virtual or holographic image that can project to the needs of each individual student.

And I thought you didn't like horror-based science fiction.

The night school where I finished my career was able to obtain a technology grant, and much of our program was computer based - we had computers available on a ratio of one for each two students. Half of their time was spent at the computer, the other half in small groups. Our job as teachers had as much to do with facilitation as it did hands on teaching, and they learned from each other as well as from us, but it was still about caring, and the students got that, and trusted the program.

Both campuses relied heavily on one-on-one instruction and on outside grants to supplement funding.

This seems like a familiar conversation, DK. Didn't we have several years ago at the PAMB?

I don't even remember the PAMB anymore. Does anyone still post there? There were some good conversations until I was booted off...

I tried so hard to get booted off, but was never granted that honor. I just got fed up one day and never went back.

I sold quite a few books as a result of that board and met some great people. I missed it. I think there are probably still some fine folks posting there. PA works for some people. I think ebooks will cut into their market, though.

I agree about PA. It was a very good choice for A Myth in Action, which did quite well for several years, and I still get royalty checks, though not very big ones these days. Their board was a different matter.

Thank Providence for Shelagh.

During grade school I had one good teacher for half a year. She was my teacher for the second half of fifth grade.
The rest of the teachers were mean and/or boring.

The nice teacher replaced a mean one who was sick. The sick one died and it was probably lucky for her only child, a daughter to have a better situation to be in.

I will never forget the day she, the teacher, called her daughter up to the front of the classroom, denounced her and slapped her face.

Everyday she was after kids, hitting them or threatening to hit them. A real nightmare in action.

High school was spent in a boarding school and the teachers were okay.

Two years of college with mediocre teachers. Then after i married and went to public college I had mostly excellent teachers.

I will be forever grateful to PA. I met many wonderful people. I do not miss the board.

Shelagh is a real blessing