I just read this inspiring story about ' the best teacher ever' and wondered if anyone here had a teacher that helped in a 'special way' as you went through your school years?
Please share your story with us as well.
For now here is THE BEST TEACHER EVER Story:
The Best Teacher Ever
There's a story from many years ago of a primary school teacher. Her name was Mrs. Thompson and as she stood in front of her fifth grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said she loved them all the same.
But that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.
Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed he didn't play well with the other children, his clothes were messy and he constantly needed a bath. Teddy could be quite unpleasant.
It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold Xs and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers. At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last.
However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise. Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners. He is a joy to be around."
His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle."
His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken."
Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and sometimes sleeps in class."
By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful paper and tied with pretty ribbons, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper he got from a grocery bag.
Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my mom used to."
After the children left, she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead she began to teach children.
Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class, and despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her "teacher's pets."
A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.
Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.
Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had in his whole life.
Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time, he explained that after he got his Bachelor degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now, his name was a little longer. The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.
The story doesn't end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he'd met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the place at the wedding that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course Mrs. Thompson did.
And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. And she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together. They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, "Thank you, Mrs. Thompson, for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me I could make a difference."
Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you."
pk
Finding nothing to compare with that beautiful story, naming best teachers in my school life seems a trivial quest.
I will say that my greatest respect goes out to First Grade Teachers. While six and seven year old children seem to be some of the most unruly to handle in a classroom, these kids enter in September knowing only a little bit about reading, and leave in June knowing how to read. What skill is more important than reading?? It's awesome! what these teachers are able to instil in our little people.
On a more personal note, there have been three teachers in my past who made their marks on my soul: my sixth grade Sunday School teacher, who taught me not to worry about death and dying because of the joys we have to look forward to in the presence of Jesus; a high school English teacher, who took my love for reading and encouraged me to write; and my college philosophy professor, a brilliant, awesome teacher.
I went to so many different schools as a kid, I unfortunately can only recall the names of one or two teachers.. it wasn't until the 9th and 10th grades that I ever recall completing a school year in one location.
I wish every teacher deserved an award for best teacher ever... Wouldn't it be great if no teacher was ever involved in a scandal again & everyone could feel safe sending their child to school? *sigh*
I went to so many different schools as a kid, I unfortunately can only recall the names of one or two teachers.. it wasn't until the 9th and 10th grades that I ever recall completing a school year in one location.
We migrated & not always to the same part of WI, so i managed to attend many schools, usually moving half through the school year... It wasn't until my 8th grade year that my mom had that car accident & we were forced to stay in WI. That's when my family moved to Wautoma & i did part of my 8th grade & all of my high school years there.
My kids eventually went to school there for a year in middle school (several yrs ago) and had some of the same teachers as i did.... none i'd say earned the 'best teacher ever' award.
Guess I was lucky and attended the same elementary school from Kinder to 6th grade that was just 2 blocks from our home. I remember almost every teacher's name and/or something about each one. My 4th grade teacher (Mrs. Coon) became my 5th grade teacher since she moved up a grade. She was such a good teacher. Each day she would read us a chapter or two from the Hardy Boy Series, and prayed to us before lunch. Back then prayers were allowed in public school. She was very concerned about all of us like a 'Mom'. I remember she always came to school with a nice dress, nylons and heels. You never see that anymore. Actually all my teachers dressed the part of a professional.
I totally loved my 3rd grade teacher. She was a such a caring person. I remember she left for several weeks when she got married and I missed her so much. Somewhere I still actually have her wedding picture my Mom cut out of the newspaper for me.
Another teacher that meant a lot to me was my English teacher in 7th grade and also a few teachers in High School that was always there when you needed extra help.
I also can say my kids had a few excellent teachers through out the years too. The first one that comes to mind is my oldest daughters 1st grade teacher. She wanted to show all the children how a 'real' Thanksgiving Dinner was like so she invited all the first grade classes to her home and with lots of parents helping we had dinner there. Big turkey with all the trimmings and homemade pies. We had so much fun that day.
I can't remember much that was special about grade school or high school teachers. I do remember my college teachers being much more of an influence on me, but that wasn't that long ago. Maybe I could relate to them better since I was around the same age at them lol.
I can't remember much that was special about grade school or high school teachers. I do remember my college teachers being much more of an influence on me, but that wasn't that long ago. Maybe I could relate to them better since I was around the same age at them lol.
I think the teacher that had the most influence on me was my high school history teacher, Mr. R. He always made learning fun and his class was never dull. One time we had to do a family tree in his class and that's what got me interested in doing genealogy research.
I just have to tell a funny story about one of his classes. The kids thought it was funny that you could always get Mr. R off track easily...which meant there wouldn't be any homework assigned if we didn't cover everything in class. So they would get him to talk about something else and he would spend the whole hour talking about that instead. One day, he told them that he was going to stay on subject the next day no matter what so we could finish the chapter and take the test. It didn't happen... the next day when he pulled down the map of the US there was a picture of a centerfold taped right in the middle of it! I swear he turned twenty shades of red! He ended up spending the whole hour trying to get the guilty party to confess so we never did finish the chapter that day. LOL
My history teacher was probably one of my worst teachers. He would give you a good grade if he liked you. He liked to play favorites. If he didn't like you, he didn't give you a good grade. I studied hard for his class, but since I was not his favorite, I got average grades. It was frustrating since my friend was one his faves and she got good grades in his class. She wasn't any smarter than me either and got the same grades in other classes as me. I wasn't the only student that noticed how he played favorites. I can name quite a few people that complained about him for that reason.
He didn't really seem to teach us much either. All he would do is stand in front of the class and have us write an outline of the chapter. Would have been nice if he would have told us actual info and stories. The outline was all the notes we got for a test, too. My only memory is of him standing in front of the class snapping his fingers to get our attention if we didn't spend the whole class period looking at his face. We weren't allowed to look away from his face. It went like this *snap snap snap* "Up here!"
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