Which teacher, or which teachers, were the most influential to you? How have they affected your life today? Did they help you discover your interests? Was this teacher/were these teachers pretty typical of your school, or more of the oddball teacher? What did you love about their class?
Most influential teacher?
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typeingtornado19
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My first ASL teacher
She told me that i would make a great interpreter, and showed me that blindness wasnt a "problem".
She was the best teacher ever, always got my large print *she was better than any other teacher at that*
Her class was always fun, and i was kind of the teachers pet.
That must felt great getting such a meaningful compliment from your ASL teacher! I bet you will be a wonderful interpreter.
You have influenced me in the same way, in other words you have passed down your ASL teacher's knowledge to me--that blindness doesn't have to get in the way of my ASL interest.
typeingtornado19
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Thanks Nika, you are so sweet! You have done the same for me, its nice to find other blind people who want to interpret!
IT was nice to hear that from her, especially with her class being so mean and unforgiving.
Hear Again
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here is a post i wrote at an earlier time in the "best teacher" thread in the deaf ed. forum:
believe it or not, i had seven teachers who inspired me.
the first teacher was my 7th grade english teacher who was strict about the rules of grammar. if you forgot to dot an "i" or cross a "t," an "a" paper could easily turn into an "f." although i loathed her at the time, i've come to really appreciate the fact that she cared about her students enough to make sure they had excellent grammar skills. if it weren't for her, i wouldn't have won a writing scholarship in high school or competed in state forensics/oratory/public speaking competitions placing 2nd (missing nationals by only 2 points) and 3rd respectively.
the second teacher was my 8th grade english teacher who told me i had a gift for writing and encouraged me to write for our middle school newspaper. to my surprise, she gave me a writing award at the end of the year at our school's awards assembly for the papers i wrote in class and the articles i wrote for the school newspaper.
the third teacher was my 9th grade english teacher. he was a published author who took my interest in writing seriously. he read me articles from various writing magazines that he subscribed to and read me excerpts from his books so i had examples of what good writing is supposed to be. he also told me something i'll never forget. he said, "you may not have the outer (i.e. physical) vision of a writer, but you'll always have the inner vision."
the fourth teacher was my 10th grade biology teacher. he was someone who had high expectations of his students and placed a very strong emphasis on the importance of education. every week he would set aside an entire class period to lecture us about education and how important it was to focus on academics and college so we could achieve our dreams. although 95% of the students in my class rolled their eyes every time he started to lecture, for some reason something "clicked" inside me. i listened to his every word with interest and really began to re-evaluate how well i was doing in school. until then, my grades had been average ("b's" and "c's"), but after 10th grade, my culmulative gpa shot up to a 3.7 and i started participating in honors courses. i also began to seriously consider attending college -- something i never really thought i would do. i'm now at university in my final year of study working towards my bachelor's degree in social work. from there, i plan to earn my master's and finally, a ph.d. thanks to this teacher who told me i could be anything i wanted to be despite deafblindness, it was then that i knew i wanted to obtain a ph.d. i had a renewed thirst for education and he was the one who inspired me. i owe my college success to him and will never forget what a positive difference he made at that time in my life.
the fifth teacher was my 11th grade history teacher. he was compassionate and really cared about his students. if one of us was struggling for one reason or another, he would always take the time to speak to us after class. if we were having difficulty understanding class material, he would take extra time to explain the lesson so that we wouldn't fall behind. he was also one of the first teachers i ever had who accommodated all of my needs in class. when he used notes on the overhead projector, he arranged to have them transcribed into braille so that i could follow along. since i had difficulty hearing in every part of the classroom except for the front row, he always set aside a desk for me so that i could hear. he also brought me close to tears (of happiness) a few days before the end of the school year when he told me if there was anyone who could successfully deal with deafblindness, it was me. he also told me to always believe in myself and to never let people tear me down.
the sixth teacher was my advanced choir teacher in 12th grade. he always told me i had a talent for singing and encouraged me to persue further study in voice after high school. he had a wonderful sense of humor, was always happy and said nothing but good things about our choir. (this was a huge change from my previous choir teacher who was impatient, blunt and used to yell at us if we didn't give the kind of performance he thought we should have during a concert. in other words, he wanted us to make him look good in front of the audience.) even after high school, he used to post to classmates.com to find out how we were doing and encouraged any of us who had an interest in music to persue our dreams. he showed a sincere interest in what we were doing despite the fact that he was living out of state and handling a demanding job that took up most of his time.
the seventh teacher was the advisor of our high school newspaper. like my 9th grade english teacher, she was also an author who encouraged me to write as much as i could. because of my love for writing, she allowed me to have four regular columns in the newspaper and gave me a position on the editorial staff during my junior and senior year. she always showed an interest in the entire staff of the newspaper (she considered us to be her "extended grandchildren") and often invited us to her house for a snack or dinner. she said her home was always open 24/7 whenever we needed to talk or vent our frustrations. since i couldn't afford a prom dress, she was kind enough to let me choose the dress i liked and paid for its' entire cost (she offered). one of the things i remember most about her was how she loved to play word games (for example, taking a word and seeing how many other words you could make out of it). she and i would spend hours on end after school playing various word games. this meant a great deal to me because i never had that kind of loving support in my family (because of my deafblindness, i always felt like an outsider). i don't know whatever happened to her, but she is one person whom i will never forget.
i consider myself fortunate to have known all of these wonderful teachers. if it weren't for them, i wouldn't have the ability to be the best person i can be nor would i have been able to face the many challenges i've had since high school.
believe it or not, i had seven teachers who inspired me.
the first teacher was my 7th grade english teacher who was strict about the rules of grammar. if you forgot to dot an "i" or cross a "t," an "a" paper could easily turn into an "f." although i loathed her at the time, i've come to really appreciate the fact that she cared about her students enough to make sure they had excellent grammar skills. if it weren't for her, i wouldn't have won a writing scholarship in high school or competed in state forensics/oratory/public speaking competitions placing 2nd (missing nationals by only 2 points) and 3rd respectively.
the second teacher was my 8th grade english teacher who told me i had a gift for writing and encouraged me to write for our middle school newspaper. to my surprise, she gave me a writing award at the end of the year at our school's awards assembly for the papers i wrote in class and the articles i wrote for the school newspaper.
the third teacher was my 9th grade english teacher. he was a published author who took my interest in writing seriously. he read me articles from various writing magazines that he subscribed to and read me excerpts from his books so i had examples of what good writing is supposed to be. he also told me something i'll never forget. he said, "you may not have the outer (i.e. physical) vision of a writer, but you'll always have the inner vision."
the fourth teacher was my 10th grade biology teacher. he was someone who had high expectations of his students and placed a very strong emphasis on the importance of education. every week he would set aside an entire class period to lecture us about education and how important it was to focus on academics and college so we could achieve our dreams. although 95% of the students in my class rolled their eyes every time he started to lecture, for some reason something "clicked" inside me. i listened to his every word with interest and really began to re-evaluate how well i was doing in school. until then, my grades had been average ("b's" and "c's"), but after 10th grade, my culmulative gpa shot up to a 3.7 and i started participating in honors courses. i also began to seriously consider attending college -- something i never really thought i would do. i'm now at university in my final year of study working towards my bachelor's degree in social work. from there, i plan to earn my master's and finally, a ph.d. thanks to this teacher who told me i could be anything i wanted to be despite deafblindness, it was then that i knew i wanted to obtain a ph.d. i had a renewed thirst for education and he was the one who inspired me. i owe my college success to him and will never forget what a positive difference he made at that time in my life.
the fifth teacher was my 11th grade history teacher. he was compassionate and really cared about his students. if one of us was struggling for one reason or another, he would always take the time to speak to us after class. if we were having difficulty understanding class material, he would take extra time to explain the lesson so that we wouldn't fall behind. he was also one of the first teachers i ever had who accommodated all of my needs in class. when he used notes on the overhead projector, he arranged to have them transcribed into braille so that i could follow along. since i had difficulty hearing in every part of the classroom except for the front row, he always set aside a desk for me so that i could hear. he also brought me close to tears (of happiness) a few days before the end of the school year when he told me if there was anyone who could successfully deal with deafblindness, it was me. he also told me to always believe in myself and to never let people tear me down.
the sixth teacher was my advanced choir teacher in 12th grade. he always told me i had a talent for singing and encouraged me to persue further study in voice after high school. he had a wonderful sense of humor, was always happy and said nothing but good things about our choir. (this was a huge change from my previous choir teacher who was impatient, blunt and used to yell at us if we didn't give the kind of performance he thought we should have during a concert. in other words, he wanted us to make him look good in front of the audience.) even after high school, he used to post to classmates.com to find out how we were doing and encouraged any of us who had an interest in music to persue our dreams. he showed a sincere interest in what we were doing despite the fact that he was living out of state and handling a demanding job that took up most of his time.
the seventh teacher was the advisor of our high school newspaper. like my 9th grade english teacher, she was also an author who encouraged me to write as much as i could. because of my love for writing, she allowed me to have four regular columns in the newspaper and gave me a position on the editorial staff during my junior and senior year. she always showed an interest in the entire staff of the newspaper (she considered us to be her "extended grandchildren") and often invited us to her house for a snack or dinner. she said her home was always open 24/7 whenever we needed to talk or vent our frustrations. since i couldn't afford a prom dress, she was kind enough to let me choose the dress i liked and paid for its' entire cost (she offered). one of the things i remember most about her was how she loved to play word games (for example, taking a word and seeing how many other words you could make out of it). she and i would spend hours on end after school playing various word games. this meant a great deal to me because i never had that kind of loving support in my family (because of my deafblindness, i always felt like an outsider). i don't know whatever happened to her, but she is one person whom i will never forget.
i consider myself fortunate to have known all of these wonderful teachers. if it weren't for them, i wouldn't have the ability to be the best person i can be nor would i have been able to face the many challenges i've had since high school.
typeingtornado19
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Hear Again, thats really cool.
Hear Again
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yes, it is. i consider myself so fortunate to have known all of them. i know some students aren't so lucky.
typeingtornado19
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Yeah... a lot of people arent. I have had some teachers that i wish i could find now... and educate them... on how to not be rude to students, and crust their self confidence.
Wow, Hear Again, it sounds like you had a great set of teachers. That must have felt so good to have published authors and great teachers encouraging you to write, that your teachers had faith in your ability despite your deafblindness (since so many people see it as an obstacle, it's quite amazing they didn't), that your teachers cared so much about their students that they were even willing to talk to you after class and invite you into their home...wow. And that your teacher offered to buy you your prom dress. So many wonderful teachers!
Hear Again
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Yes, they all were in their own special way. I'll never, ever forget any of them because they all played a huge part in making me the person I am today.
Hear Again
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i know how that goes. i had a 5th grade teacher who washed my mouth out with soap for lying about a violin lesson i was supposed to go to (even though i never lied -- i completely forgot about the lesson). she had me stand in front of the entire class getting my mouth washed out and then made me apologize to them for lying.
she was also the same teacher who used to take a closed fist and hit us on the top of our heads if we didn't know the correct answer to a math problem. (and she wondered why i couldn't stand math until 9th grade when i finally had a teacher who cared about how well i did). i remember myself and several other students trying to get her fired for hitting us the way she did, but no one took our complaint seriously because she denied anything happened in the first place.
I have had my share of negative experiences with teachers. I attended a French school for 7 years and at French school the system is to bog down the student to force him/her to do better. The system was extremely authoritarian/disciplinarian. You could land yourself in a detention for dropping a sir/ma'am. I didn't like the system at all. It suppressed individuality and creativity. And also some of the teachers were nothing short of abusive.
However I did change schools and had many excellent teachers at my new school. I will never forget my Physiology and A.P. Biology teacher. He really instilled a love for science in me. I was interested in doing research on PTSD and he helped me by introducing me to a psychiatrist and a neuroscientist. He was also a great teacher. His classes were always lively, he never put too much emphasis on test-taking (which was a really nice break for a lot of students who don't do well with tests), and he had a great sense of humor. His humor helped us to remember the material. For example, once we were studying C4 plants and how they have an enzyme called Rubisco that cannot distinguish oxygen from carbon monoxide. Oxygen helps the plant survive; carbon monoxide kills it. So we made up an entire joke about how Rubisco was stupid. We also had a great time tripping out visitors. We had a lot of visitors in our class (parents considering bringing their children to our school) since it was an A.P. class. We would use the word Rubisco as a cue word to randomly change seats. Then we would act like nothing happened.
"So, one of the reasons C4 plants have evolved to close their pores during the day and open up at night is because they use an enzyme, Rubisco--"
We would all get up and change seats.
We had so much fun in that class! And at the same time we learned a lot. Most of my teachers were either fun or taught us a lot, but my A.P. Bio teacher was one of those gems that was both funny AND taught us a lot.
However I did change schools and had many excellent teachers at my new school. I will never forget my Physiology and A.P. Biology teacher. He really instilled a love for science in me. I was interested in doing research on PTSD and he helped me by introducing me to a psychiatrist and a neuroscientist. He was also a great teacher. His classes were always lively, he never put too much emphasis on test-taking (which was a really nice break for a lot of students who don't do well with tests), and he had a great sense of humor. His humor helped us to remember the material. For example, once we were studying C4 plants and how they have an enzyme called Rubisco that cannot distinguish oxygen from carbon monoxide. Oxygen helps the plant survive; carbon monoxide kills it. So we made up an entire joke about how Rubisco was stupid. We also had a great time tripping out visitors. We had a lot of visitors in our class (parents considering bringing their children to our school) since it was an A.P. class. We would use the word Rubisco as a cue word to randomly change seats. Then we would act like nothing happened.
"So, one of the reasons C4 plants have evolved to close their pores during the day and open up at night is because they use an enzyme, Rubisco--"
We would all get up and change seats.
We had so much fun in that class! And at the same time we learned a lot. Most of my teachers were either fun or taught us a lot, but my A.P. Bio teacher was one of those gems that was both funny AND taught us a lot.
That's awful! That reminds me of my 5th grade music teacher. She also used to hit us. We finally got her fired, though. That woman was totally nuts.
Hear Again
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<laugh> your biology teacher sounds like a rarity who not only has the talent to teach, but to have a healthy sense of humor as well.
by the way, i loved the joke about rubisco! <still laughing>
Hear Again
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nika,
your biology teacher reminds me of my 9th grade science teacher and 11th grade chemistry teacher. both of them had a wonderful sense of humor and made learning so much fun.
now that i think about it, i also had an awesome science teacher in 8th grade who unfortunately passed away of a heart attack a year after i left middle school. i'll never forget the first day i walked into his class and he asked me, "hear again, do you have a sister named (insert name here)?" i said that i did and he told me she was his student several years prior. one thing i loved most about this teacher was his patience. he was so kind and no matter how often you needed a concept to be explained, he never, ever became upset or threw up his hands in frustration. i also remember one day during something we had called "charity week" where he allowed us to play our boomboxes during class. charity week was an event designed to raise money on behalf of the entire school for a national charity. even though we were allowed to bring walkmans and boomboxes to school, not all teachers would allow us to play them in class during charity week. he was one of the few exceptions who did. after i learned he had passed away, i cried for a week and felt as if i had lost a part of myself because he was partly reponsible for my love of science.
your biology teacher reminds me of my 9th grade science teacher and 11th grade chemistry teacher. both of them had a wonderful sense of humor and made learning so much fun.
now that i think about it, i also had an awesome science teacher in 8th grade who unfortunately passed away of a heart attack a year after i left middle school. i'll never forget the first day i walked into his class and he asked me, "hear again, do you have a sister named (insert name here)?" i said that i did and he told me she was his student several years prior. one thing i loved most about this teacher was his patience. he was so kind and no matter how often you needed a concept to be explained, he never, ever became upset or threw up his hands in frustration. i also remember one day during something we had called "charity week" where he allowed us to play our boomboxes during class. charity week was an event designed to raise money on behalf of the entire school for a national charity. even though we were allowed to bring walkmans and boomboxes to school, not all teachers would allow us to play them in class during charity week. he was one of the few exceptions who did. after i learned he had passed away, i cried for a week and felt as if i had lost a part of myself because he was partly reponsible for my love of science.
Hear Again
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i was going to ask you about that, but thought you may have made a typo.
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i was going to ask you about this too, but thought you made a typo here as well. <smile>
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how did she hit you? did she slap you at all? wow. i can't believe the nerve of some teachers and how they are allowed to get away with that kind of behavior. <very mad>