Another S/O: What GOOD things did a teacher do for you?

[JudyJudyJudy]

I had a pretty rough childhood, and I was far from an angel in class. Regardless, many others weren't, either, but I always got the blame no matter what happened. Also, even though I made good grades, it wasn't because I tried; it was because it just came naturally for me.

In sixth grade, I had a teacher for half the day (language arts and social studies). The first day of school I thought I was really going to dislike this woman. However, as time passed, I realized that she cared. I'm not even sure how she went about it, but she made me feel special, and at that point I started trying harder in class and started behaving.

This teacher knew that I didn't have many clothes, so she'd bring me nice hand-me-downs. She also took me to buy some new things. Even in seventh grade when she was no longer my teacher, since I was going to be speaking in the honors program, she bought me something to wear for the program. The list of things she did for me could go on and on.

I still keep in touch with her. I call her at least yearly on her birthday; she turned 85 last October. She is still so important to me; I'll miss her so much when she goes.

[BeanBabies]

Well, in college I took first year english. I did really well all year but failed because I wouldn't (couldn't) do a talk in front of the class. ( I had panic attacks speaking in front of people.)

I had to re-take the class my 2nd semester and my teacher was so awesome. He stayed with me after class to help me with my speech. (He would do this once a week until towards the end of the semester.) He had me do it for him, then he had three of my friends come in so I could do the speech for them. Then the day of the speech, he had my 3 friends come in and interspersed them throughout the class so I had some friendly faces to search for when I would start to freak out. I'll never forget him. I'll also never forget the "A" I got, either. :)

[Trollarious]

Yes I did and it was just a few words from a teacher/baseball coach in high school. He called me into his office a few days before we graduated and said something like, "for whatever reason, and I'm sure you've got them, you've decided to go through life with a chip on your shoulder and putting for minimal effort. I just want you to know that I see such great potential in you. If you ever decide to try your best and put forth your best effort at something, look out, you'll be a great success in life."

Would you believe that I hung on to those words like some kind of lifeline? Recently one of my high school buddies asked me, "I've often wondered what kept you going all those years that you were an addict? It seems like it would be so easy to just give up."

I told him the story of our old coach, and unbelievably just out of the blue, he ran into our old coach at a flea market about an hour outside of Dallas just a week or two later and shared the story with him. He said that it brought tears to his eyes and he said, "tell Kim how proud I am of him."

Thanks coach! As you can see, Judy, sometimes it doesn't take much to make a huge difference in a kids life.

That's a great story, Bean!

[BeanBabies]

Troll, that gave me goosebumps. I'm so glad that got back to your teacher.

[JudyJudyJudy]

These are great stories. :)

[Rizzae2]

in 2nd grade my teacher did extra testing with me. She learned that I am a slow learner. But no one did any diagnosing me. But she cared enough to pay special attention to me.

[Miamimama]

My 5th grade teacher was the most wonderful woman I have ever had as a teacher. She had such compassion and she genuinely cared about us, there has never been a nother teacher who touched me the way she did.
Some things she did that I remember are, she mailed everyone of her students a welcome note about a week before school started, nota photocopied note a hand written note to each of us. I felt so eager to start school because I felt so welcome in her classroom.
On the first day of school she told us, that we are each different and each of us lives a different type of life. Some of us go on vacation and some of us don't have money for school supplies. If at any point we needed something we should ask her. She didn't want anyone to be embarrassed if they needed pencils or a notebook and couldn't get one on their own. We could write her a note and she would handle it descreetly.
She also told us to have pride in what we have no matter hw little ot might be. If we only had one pair or panties we should wash them out every night to have them clean for the next day.
If we didn't have money for lunch, she would always have something for us to eat.

My school district had million dollar type homes and public housing in its boundries, we covered many financial backgrounds in my class.

There is so much more to say about this woman, I could go on and on about her.

We are still in touch on occasion. She retired about the time my son started first grade, how I wish he could of had her as a teacher.

Her husband passed away 5 years ago and I had the chance to meet her children at the funeral. They spoke so eloquently and lovingly about their father I was encouraged to be a better parent to my children. It let me see that not only was she a wonderful teacher she was a wonderful person.

Sorry to ramble.

[catkrazy99]

I had a basketball coach who believed more in me than I believed in myself. It was years before I saw in me what she did. She has passed recently but I always remember her and her belief in me.

ETA: Oh, and it wasn't basketball skills that she saw in me, but rather she saw the person who I could be if I put forth effort. She always knew I had potential long before I did.

[QuiltyConscience]

I had many really wonderful teachers.
At the end of 8th grade, my family was planning on moving out of state. One of my teachers wrote me such a nice card about how she would miss me in class and she gave me my own thesaurus. She handed it to me as if it were a treasure, and I believed her.

My Chemistry teacher saw that I was having a heck of a time and stayed after school twice a week with me to help me. (for no pay - my parents offered to pay him and he refused)

I thought my High school English teacher was the meanest teacher ever, until I started college. Then I loved her.

[RedheadbyChoice]

The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

In 8th grade, Mr. B taught me to never ever give up. He taught algebra and that was the first class in which I actively struggled. I could get Bs, easily, but I was grounded at home if I didn't get As. He would let students retake tests for better grades and I remember taking one 4 different times to get an A....I had 3 tests with 92s on them, and I couldn't come home with that. *sigh*

As a senior, living out of state, I came home on my Christmas break and this man helped me with my calculus. I still see him often (at sporting events, and we know a lot of the same people) and he's still a great man.

English, 9th and 10th grade.....Mrs. B taught me to write an essay properly. We did one every week, for both years.

Mr. R taught me to appreciate humor in life and school.

Mr. M taught me that working on my own wasn't the best plan for me, as I needed structure. Oh that was a rough year, but I did come out with a B (which was actually an A, as it was a weighted class), so that was good.

I had so many good teachers, really.

[hidesome]

I was a fairly troubled teen. I certainly didn't fit in with the "smart" kids. Nonetheless, I took the college admissions tests and was a National Merit Semi-Finalist. At the time, I had no idea what that meant so I asked my adviser. He was 100% convinced that I was lying and told me so. This irritated me so I went to my other teachers and asked them what it meant and if I could get recommendations to apply to become a Finalist. One of my teachers was pissed because his son scored lower, one said, "that is for good students", several others politely bowed out, etc. The only teacher that supported me was my Physics teacher. He was an odd bird, who spent most of his adult life in the Navy. He wrote me one of the nicest recommendation letters I have ever seen. I think at some level, he was not the most popular teacher and kinda identified with me as an academic outcast. Anyway, I got the award and was very grateful for his help.

I've always been fascinated by those who say, "[hidesome] can't do that!" Clearly, they just don't know me.

My sister is the best teacher I ever had. She taught me algebra in a weekend. I'm glad for that too.

I had many other great teachers and some incredible losers. I learned from them all.

[joshsmom]

Mrs. Cronk, my fifth grade teacher, was wonderful. The previous year had been horrid. My fourth grade teacher was very unkind and I was also chronically bullied that year by two particular students. Mrs. Cronk came along and was like a breath of fresh air. The school was down the block from my house and she always let me stay after to "help" her do things. (I'm sure I was a chatterbox that only made more work for her, but she humored me.) I know I was a handful but she always responded gently, fairly and respectfully. That has stuck with me my whole life and in my own years of teaching I've always reminded myself to be a "Mrs. Cronk" even when I was losing my cool.