Day 18 : Not Forgetting Teachers : Part 3
This is part 3 in a 5 part series about teachers. In this and subsequent posts, I am going to be writing about memorable teachers I've had in the past. I want to challenge you to take some time to remember how teachers have influenced your life and take a few moments to thank them. Teaching is a thank-less job and teachers know this, but that doesn't mean that they should never be thanked. Believe me, a thank you letter or Facebook message sent to your 4th grade teacher or history professor will make them feel like they got a million dollar bonus. Ok, a million dollar bonus would be awesome, but to know that their life's work has made a positive impact on their students is priceless.
Preteen years of middle school are synonymous with awkwardness. Your body is growing at alarming rates, but not all parts are growing at the same time. Your nose grows before your face, feet before legs. Your sweat glands kick into high gear, which are greatly exacerbated by the nervousness attached to the sweetheart dance, student council elections, and cheerleading tryouts. Not to mention that you start to notice the opposite sex, they start to notice you, but never at the right time by the right person. It's three years of putting together a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle with no picture on the front of the box.
My sister, Anna, teaches middle school. Bless. Her. Heart.
Actually, she is a fabulous teacher and really loves students at that age. I truly admire her for the courage it takes to do her job well everyday. Incidentally, today is her birthday! Happy Birthday, Nan!
It takes talented, patient, creative, tolerant, dedicated teachers to love kids through these years.
Middle school is like teacher explosion. You go from having one teacher a year in elementary school, to up to four teachers, plus elective teachers. I had 20 teachers in middle school. TWENTY! I don't spend a lot of time thinking about middle school memories, but I do have a few memorable teachers from those years.
Ms. McCurry - I had Ms. McCurry for 6th grade math and science and again in 8th grade for Algebra. I remember on the first day of school in sixth grade that she told us a story about the government deciding that we were going to start sending our trash to the moon. This of course was fiction, but I totally believed it and when she figured out that I thought it was real, she just belly laughed. No middle schooler wants to be laughed at, especially not by a teacher in front of peers, but it really didn't bother me. It made me laugh that she was entertained by my innocence/gullible-ness. She was an incredible math teacher. It was in her class that I first learned about this thing called "the internet" and "email" - something so difficult to understand that I was sure it would never catch on. She was so organized in how she presented new information and she gave us the tools we needed to do things on our own. She wrote on an overhead projector that had a roll of transparency attached to it, so that it just scrolled across the top of the projector when she needed clear space. It was always exciting to watch her spray water on the Vis-a-Vis writing. I am not sure where she is today or what her married name is. No matter - Ms. McCurry, thank you for being a teacher worth remembering and emulating. Thank you for instilling in me a love for doing and teaching math.
Ms. Adams - I had Ms. Adams for theatre during my 7th and 8th grade years. I had always loved acting, but she opened the door to a new way of thinking about it. She taught me about character development and "getting into character". She talked about how stage fright is natural, normal, and good - that we use that energy in our performance. Ms. Adams taught us sign language and let us create this gigantic oceanic back drop on the theater wall. We performed plays for our peers and for visiting 5th graders. Her influence ushered me to perform in plays and musicals in high school and college. Thank you, Ms. Adams for giving me an outlet that made me feel alive. You gave me an hour and a half every day that let me discover my own talents and new ideas. You made me feel successful - which is a huge deal to a middle schooler. Thank you.
Mrs. Gerlach - She was my cheerleading coach and cheered me on well after I left middle school. As a coach, she had high expectations of our team and gave us the space and expertise we needed to meet them. She also had high expectations for us as middle school girls. She advised on how to deal with friends and boyfriends and teachers. She stayed late with me after practice one day when my mom forgot to pick me up! After I left middle school, she recommended me for a job at her husband's local dry cleaning business. It was the best job I could imagine a high schooler to have. It was so good, in fact, that I kept working there while I was in college...and my college was over an hour away! It meant so much to me that she felt me trustworthy and reliable enough to work for her husband's business. My sisters also worked this same job when they were in high school. Thank you so much, Mrs. Gerlach for taking care of me and for being "there" for the tumultuous middle school years and beyond. You are a woman worth much admiration - you definitely shall always have mine.
Mr. Mackey - He called me Jazmino and he was, hands-down, the best part of middle school. Mr. Mackey taught "Career Explorations" - we worked on computers, learned how to cook and serve meals, studied proper etiquette for a myriad of situations, and learned about a variety of careers we could pursue in the future. He brought in high school students who shared about scholarships, applying for college, and the importance of extra-curricular activities. I loved his classes because they were so practical, but I loved Mr. Mackey because he was always your biggest fan. Mr. Mackey was the faculty sponsor for CECNC - a club that encouraged middle school students to explore careers and compete in events that may one day benefit you in your career. I competed in the performing arts category in singing and in parliamentary procedure in which we held a mock-business meeting using Robert's Rules of Order {which I have actually used}. He helped us to be well prepared for competition and his students always did well, probably because we knew he believed we could. He had confidence in us, therefore, we had confidence in ourselves. Mr. Mackey, thank you for encouraging me to discover my talents and to cultivate them, not settling for mediocrity. Thank you for teaching me which fork to use during a fancy dinner {I still teach this to kids}. Thank you for believing in me, pushing me, and loving me like a daughter.
Was your middle school experience as awkward as mine? What do you remember about your preteen years and the teachers that guided you through it?
Preteen years of middle school are synonymous with awkwardness. Your body is growing at alarming rates, but not all parts are growing at the same time. Your nose grows before your face, feet before legs. Your sweat glands kick into high gear, which are greatly exacerbated by the nervousness attached to the sweetheart dance, student council elections, and cheerleading tryouts. Not to mention that you start to notice the opposite sex, they start to notice you, but never at the right time by the right person. It's three years of putting together a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle with no picture on the front of the box.
My sister, Anna, teaches middle school. Bless. Her. Heart.
Actually, she is a fabulous teacher and really loves students at that age. I truly admire her for the courage it takes to do her job well everyday. Incidentally, today is her birthday! Happy Birthday, Nan!
It takes talented, patient, creative, tolerant, dedicated teachers to love kids through these years.
Middle school is like teacher explosion. You go from having one teacher a year in elementary school, to up to four teachers, plus elective teachers. I had 20 teachers in middle school. TWENTY! I don't spend a lot of time thinking about middle school memories, but I do have a few memorable teachers from those years.
Ms. McCurry - I had Ms. McCurry for 6th grade math and science and again in 8th grade for Algebra. I remember on the first day of school in sixth grade that she told us a story about the government deciding that we were going to start sending our trash to the moon. This of course was fiction, but I totally believed it and when she figured out that I thought it was real, she just belly laughed. No middle schooler wants to be laughed at, especially not by a teacher in front of peers, but it really didn't bother me. It made me laugh that she was entertained by my innocence/gullible-ness. She was an incredible math teacher. It was in her class that I first learned about this thing called "the internet" and "email" - something so difficult to understand that I was sure it would never catch on. She was so organized in how she presented new information and she gave us the tools we needed to do things on our own. She wrote on an overhead projector that had a roll of transparency attached to it, so that it just scrolled across the top of the projector when she needed clear space. It was always exciting to watch her spray water on the Vis-a-Vis writing. I am not sure where she is today or what her married name is. No matter - Ms. McCurry, thank you for being a teacher worth remembering and emulating. Thank you for instilling in me a love for doing and teaching math.
Ms. Adams - I had Ms. Adams for theatre during my 7th and 8th grade years. I had always loved acting, but she opened the door to a new way of thinking about it. She taught me about character development and "getting into character". She talked about how stage fright is natural, normal, and good - that we use that energy in our performance. Ms. Adams taught us sign language and let us create this gigantic oceanic back drop on the theater wall. We performed plays for our peers and for visiting 5th graders. Her influence ushered me to perform in plays and musicals in high school and college. Thank you, Ms. Adams for giving me an outlet that made me feel alive. You gave me an hour and a half every day that let me discover my own talents and new ideas. You made me feel successful - which is a huge deal to a middle schooler. Thank you.
Mrs. Gerlach - She was my cheerleading coach and cheered me on well after I left middle school. As a coach, she had high expectations of our team and gave us the space and expertise we needed to meet them. She also had high expectations for us as middle school girls. She advised on how to deal with friends and boyfriends and teachers. She stayed late with me after practice one day when my mom forgot to pick me up! After I left middle school, she recommended me for a job at her husband's local dry cleaning business. It was the best job I could imagine a high schooler to have. It was so good, in fact, that I kept working there while I was in college...and my college was over an hour away! It meant so much to me that she felt me trustworthy and reliable enough to work for her husband's business. My sisters also worked this same job when they were in high school. Thank you so much, Mrs. Gerlach for taking care of me and for being "there" for the tumultuous middle school years and beyond. You are a woman worth much admiration - you definitely shall always have mine.
Mr. Mackey - He called me Jazmino and he was, hands-down, the best part of middle school. Mr. Mackey taught "Career Explorations" - we worked on computers, learned how to cook and serve meals, studied proper etiquette for a myriad of situations, and learned about a variety of careers we could pursue in the future. He brought in high school students who shared about scholarships, applying for college, and the importance of extra-curricular activities. I loved his classes because they were so practical, but I loved Mr. Mackey because he was always your biggest fan. Mr. Mackey was the faculty sponsor for CECNC - a club that encouraged middle school students to explore careers and compete in events that may one day benefit you in your career. I competed in the performing arts category in singing and in parliamentary procedure in which we held a mock-business meeting using Robert's Rules of Order {which I have actually used}. He helped us to be well prepared for competition and his students always did well, probably because we knew he believed we could. He had confidence in us, therefore, we had confidence in ourselves. Mr. Mackey, thank you for encouraging me to discover my talents and to cultivate them, not settling for mediocrity. Thank you for teaching me which fork to use during a fancy dinner {I still teach this to kids}. Thank you for believing in me, pushing me, and loving me like a daughter.
Was your middle school experience as awkward as mine? What do you remember about your preteen years and the teachers that guided you through it?
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This is the eighteenth post in the series 31 Days of Not Forgetting.
If you'd like to read previous posts in the series, click here and scroll to the bottom.
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