Teaching Influence

Teachers Who Influenced You

Throughout one’s schooling career a person will come in contact with over 100 individuals, classroom teachers, counselors, administrators, learning coaches, exploratory teachers, athletic coaches, substitute teachers, aides, etc., who help influence their life and learning. And while all these educators attempt to positively influence a child’s life, circumstances, professional and personal deficiencies, lack of skill, talent or motivation and/or personality conflicts cause eruptions within the educator-student relationship. And sometimes the student is to blame for many of the same reasons.

My purpose here is to take two teachers from the same school year and reflect on how one negatively influenced my view of 1) the teacher, 2) the subject matter and 3) learning and the school experience and how the other teacher was a positive influence in those categories.

First, let me state for the record… I can read.

Ms. S was my social studies, reading and homeroom teacher in sixth grade, my first-year of middle school in Boulder, Colo. She was mid-40s, Jewish and hardheaded. I was 11, from a free-spirited family and hardheaded. I should have seen this wasn’t going to work out.

As the year progressed my relationship with Ms. S deteriorated. I refused to turn in classwork. I thought journal entries were silly and I hated that I couldn’t select what I wanted to read. From what I recall, our social studies class was non-descript. We sat in rows, had to update agendas everyday (if not, you received a grade deduction) and did “book” work with worksheets. It was not a warm environment for me.

To be honest, I remember very little from her classes except three things: 1) we watched weekly videos about a fictional Mayan ruin expedition, 2) I failed reading during both the 3^rd and 4^th nine weeks, failed her social studies class the final nine weeks and would have failed homeroom if I had the chance, and 3) Ms. S and I did not get along. Looking back, I may have been a bit too insecure in my self (sixth grade does that to kids.) I was odd (still am), quirky and was bullied often. But I did not feel comfortable in Ms. S’s classroom. It was not the welcoming environment my other core teachers had. I did not feel I could talk to her, reason with her. I didn’t feel she was listening to me.

When I reflected over this paper as to who had the most negative influence over me there was little competition. I tried to think of my 7^th grade English teacher and how she was a tick eccentric. But she knew how to hammer grammar into my head. I tried to think of my fifth grade teacher, an intimidating, large old man from Texas with a belt buckle the size of a hubcap that shone like the sun. Or, my 9^th grade geometry teacher who was shallow with his subject knowledge, his teaching ability or a mix of both. But Ms. S was the combination salad of all these teacher defects. She was cold, dry, intimidating and uninspiring.

Sixth grade was not all bad. Three periods after social studies was language arts with Mr. D. He opened me up to reading and writing like I had never experienced before. Every three to four weeks we composed short stories, poems, plays, non-fiction research projects, fantasies and dramas. We were introduced to Edgar Allen Poe. We experienced music and studied the poetry and descriptive language of the lyrics.

The class had an open, creative feel. No rows or gluttonous teacher-directed lessons. We discussed, debated, created and shared. I enjoyed listening to other student’s stories. Some were silly (what would happen if Oprah met Barney the Dinosaur) or scary (the boy whose nightmare turned into reality) or gory (the genocide of a family of desert people by the mighty king). The class not only opened my eyes to myself but to the other students.

I learned to accept the editing process as not an indictment of my ideas, but of my writing. I understood that there are always things to tweak, re-word or just get rid of. I learned to better take criticism because I was able to freely create in the first place.

The way Mr. D established a rapport with students, making jokes, allowing open discussion and a free flow of ideas is exactly what I want to bring into a classroom. I want my students to feel like they can open up, express themselves and learn about themselves as well as others.

That is important for middle school students especially. Much like it is important for pre-school and kindergarten students to feel safe and secure, middle school students need to feel a sense of belonging and be able to express themselves in a welcoming, safe and community environment. They need to feel like they belong.

So, I will turn those rows into groupings of 3-4. I will turn those worksheets into open-ended discussion and debate. I will turn those weekly videos into project-based, hands-on units and I will turn those stale, incarcerating reading groups into free choice where the key requirement is you challenge yourself with your next selection.

But most importantly, I will not be labeled as a math, science, language arts or social studies teacher. I will be a teacher of early adolescents. I will meet the curriculum standards and requirements set by the state, district and school by first meeting the developmental needs of my students. I feel if I do that, the learning will come.