Teachers are sort of like deodorant: They are taken for granted, they are a necessary tool for personal advancement, there are many different 'brands' of them and your future life would stink without them.
Does a former teacher ever 'pop' into your head....for one reason or another? Hopefully this memory retrieval is a positive one. I do understand that a teacher has the ability to powerfully influence students in either a positive or negative manner. I can remember every teacher I ever had - from kindergarten through high school - and, fortunately for me, not one of them left any scars. Quite the contrary, many of these dedicated educators left lasting, positive imprints and armed me with knowledge that has served me well for many years.
There are several former educators of mine whose careers impacted me in ways that influence me daily. One I've written about in this blog - an American Thought And Language professor at a Big Ten University. Another was my public school band director - a mentor to me and the man who inspired me to follow in his footsteps. Sadly, this man died soon after my high school graduation and I was never been able to tell him of his importance in my professional life. The third teacher is a woman who was my high school, college-prep English teacher during my sophomore and junior years. Miss 'Smith', not her real name, was a no-nonsense teacher who had a terrific dry sense of humor (right up my personality alley) and she inspired me to read, read more and then write about what I read. She grounded her students in the mechanics of the English language - i.e. grammar and she was a stickler for correct spelling and intelligent syntax. This woman singlehandedly gave me rock-solid skills that have been more influential in my life-successes than any other educator in my twenty-plus years of education. While I have miles to go before I master speaking the English language and writing with it, the skills this terrific teacher left me with have given me years of pleasure and professional advancement.
I urge all of us to locate former, influential educators and let them know of their impact on our lives. It is true - if you can read this blog posting, thank an English teacher. If you can balance your checkbook, thank a math teacher. If you know that the figurine perching on the fireplace mantle will fall off if the fulcrum point is not exactly known, thank a physics teacher. If you can read musical notes or play an instrument, thank a music teacher. If you can type with more than two fingers, thank God that someone taught you your keyboarding skills. And, if you are breathing in and out, just thank God. Period.
Ancora imparo
