Anyway, just so you know, I get an email letting me know when a comment has been made on a post, so comment with confidence wherever you like

Ally, that is weird that you were just talking about this. It truly is sad that some people didn’t get to have the experience of a teacher that influenced them in some way–especially when I had more than my fair share.

Jennie, I had a few good English teachers, one of which was the first to really encourage me to write. He wasn’t one of the “cool” teachers, but he sure helped my writing self-esteem.

Held Hostage, must be something about the math teachers…although my geometry teacher? Yeah, not so much. I’m from a pretty small town, so it’s no problem to find Fast Eddie–we’ve run into each other many times since high school, but I’m not sure I’ve ever expressed his influence as I did here. Perhaps I’ll track down his email address and send him a link. Of course then I’d feel guilty leaving out all the other teachers…better get writing Thanks for stopping by!

Christina, your Fast Eddie is too funny–love the image And no, I wouldn’t have minded someone giving me points in math for trying. I wasn’t a big fan either.

Melissa, that’s a wonderful story! Ms Grayson must’ve felt so honored (and, btw, Hannah Grayson is such a beautiful name)!

Jessica, thanks for sharing that–such a beautiful tale, and I’m sure you’ll be quite emotional when you step foot in Germany someday (speaking fluent German, right?). And of course I don’t mind your adding me to your blogroll–if you’re not on mine yet, you will be soon

R, yeah, I think some of the class, um, un-participators-in-a-postive-way may not have had such a great teacher experience. Their loss!

Anonymous, thank you for your kind words about the blog and for sharing this. Yes, sometimes the reverse can be true as well–teachers/professors who you don’t get on with can push you further. I had one of those in law school who basically picked on me until I started raising my hand to answer all his questions and also to ask him obscure but informed ones as well. He stopped his bullying pretty quickly Congratulations on your success, and thanks for commenting!

Smtwngrl, I hope you find him; I’m sure it would mean a lot to hear that his efforts made a difference. Thanks for commenting!

Scarlett, you’re absolutely right. There’s something to be learned from everyone, I think–just takes a little more effort on our part sometimes.

Judith, how wonderful! My elementary school teachers were some of my favorites as well. In fact, there are only a few that I really didn’t have strong positive feelings about. Those early years in education are so important.

Freelance Cynic, throwing books too! Yeah, I think that may have happened once or twice in my math classes. Thanks for the add–of course it’s OK!

Sara, I think condescension and trying to tell you what to think about the world often go hand in hand–some just didn’t want to be challenged on anything, and that’s usually where I ran into trouble. I loved reading about all your favorites…maybe you’ll go on and on someday over at your place?

Imbi, yes, it sounds like you’re still a bit enamored…thanks for sharing

Karen, my parents weren’t really pushy about school either–I was always just a curious kid, wanted to know everything (not much has changed there!). I’m sure you were an excellent teacher–your passion is inspiring to me and I’m not even on the same continent

Shan, that’s just great; I love hearing things like that about teachers because parents really do place a lot of trust in them. We hear a lot about when they drop the ball, but it’s nice to hear when they do well, also.

Kathy, too funny! I had a great Accounting prof in college–I’m not even sure why I took the class at this point, but it would’ve been torture with anyone else. He started every class the same way…he’d walk in and start acting out a scene from a movie and the first person to name the movie got a candy or something. Very fun

Nora, no need to thank me. I should have that post out next week sometime, and I’ll be sure to let you know.

Karina, Mr D sounds awesome…more like a college prof than a high school teacher, and I mean that as a compliment. A lot of time high school teachers are forced into what they should teach and how, but profs have more freedom, and I think that shows in class discussions, especially. Lucky you

Like you, I was lucky to have some wonderful teachers growing up…I had some monsters too, but we won’t go into that.

One of the one’s who stands out the most was Mr. D. Mr. D. taught an elective for the honors students…I honestly don’t remember what the class was…Communication maybe? All I remember is that he was more like a counselor than a teacher, he would always start these incredible discussions, and let us just speak freely about things. He was all about us finding ourselves, what was important to us, etc.

He also played “Dead Poet’s Society” for us in class, and so I’ve always associated that film with him.

Mr. D was a great guy, thanks for reminding me of him again!

Baci.

Keeping with the math theme, the one teacher that always sticks out in my mind was my Algebra / Pre-Calculus teacher, Anna Clark. I was never a huge math fan, but I really liked her. I can’t recall any specific stories, but I can still remember the expressions on her face. I wonder whatever happened to her…

Another teacher I recall was my Statistics professor in college. The very first night of class, she came storming in, and practically yelled that she wouldn’t tolerate any misbehaving, we were to pay attention, etc., and if we didn’t, she would kick us out of class! Of course, about 1/4 of the class dropped out after that first class, but those of us who stayed were in for a treat.

She turned out to be one of the best professors I ever had…and fun! She told us later that the reason she came down so hard on us the first night was because the previous semester (her first semester as a teacher!) she didn’t establish any rules and the students ended up very disrespectful, they didn’t listen to her, and she had a miserable time each week. She even thanked us for listening to her and making teaching an enjoyable experience for her. I’ll never forget that.