I owe my career and livelihood to great teachers. I am certain I am not the only one. Great teachers who were patient with me when I probably did not deserve said patience. Great teachers who invested in me more than I invested in my own work. Great teachers who cared for me more than I showed respect for them at times. Here are a few examples of big and small things teachers have done for me:
- When Miss Millhouse showed me great care when I ran into a tree during a field trip in kindergarten
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When Mrs. Farno did not take any lazy behavior from me in 5th grade
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When Mr. Evans let me and two other students spend two full weeks to develop an Earth Day newsletter on our own in 8th grade
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When Mrs. Sizelove worked with me on my top-scoring state FFA officer interview speech
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When Mr. Slone told me what I needed to hear, even if it wasn’t what I wanted to hear (in high school)
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When Mr. Thompson made every day in any of his high school science classes an engaging one
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When Dr. Cano yelled at me numerous times for not reaching my potential
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When Dr. Henderson afforded more patience to me than I sometimes deserved
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When Dena Wyler Wuebker let me fall while I was teaching a unit during student teaching, but then was there to pick me up to help me recover and succeed in teaching said unit
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When John Poulson answered my many, many questions as a first year teacher
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When Bev Emch was a major reason why I stayed sane as a first year teacher
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When Robert Torres, Bryan Garton, and Rob Terry pulled out all of the stops to give me valuable experiences as a PhD student
As I’ve gone from student to teacher to teacher educator, I can also talk about how my students have enriched my life, have taught me new things about myself and the world in which we live, and how important education can be at all levels. So, as a teacher, I am appreciative to be in this profession.
I realize that I’ve been in education my entire career and more so that I am so entrenched in teaching that I train teachers. However, my quick examples from my K-12 and undergraduate teachers above would still apply whether I chose teaching as a profession or not and whether I was in higher education or not. We need to do a better job of appreciating those whose job it is to invest in the thankless, to endure problems not of their own doing, and to navigate systems that imply they are not doing enough. So, to my teachers, my eternal gratitude for a debt I’ll never be able to pay back, but one I strive to pay forward.