Next Week Is Teacher Appreciation Week

The week of May 8, 2017 is Teacher Appreciation Week.  In education, this is a pretty important week for teachers hoping to hear that they are doing good work for students and communities.  It always made my day when a kid would stop by and share how much they appreciated me as a teacher.  It was also nice to hear from school leaders that they thought I was doing a good job.  This year, I'm thinking less about myself as an educator and more about the educators that helped mold me when I was younger.

In elementary school, I was a handful.  That is not likely to be the term that most adults in my life would use to describe me - probably more the four-letter variety, represented by symbols in polite writing.  Even though I was quite a little &%$#, there was a teacher that sticks out in my mind, even today.

Mrs. H was advanced in years and wisdom.  In her 4th grade classroom, I had access to my first computer (this was in 1985, folks, computers were not common).  I was able to learn about programming through trial and error, eventually writing a DOS-based (I think) program that was a choose-your-own-adventure story modeled after my love of the Zork book series.  It was in this class that I submitted an experiment for my first science fair.  I explored content, shared ideas with friends in class, and have fond memories of my time there.

One lesson I learned that still sticks with me today is something I learned with another student, not something that was directed by the teacher.  As we sat next to each other, sharing a computer, my classmate Kenneth saw me struggling to type quickly.  He showed me how fast he was able to type, and I asked him how he learned to type so quickly.  His trick was that he divided the keyboard at the #7 key.  Everything tot he left of the 7, he used his left hand to find the key, and he used the right hand for the right side.  No ASDF-JKL; it was simply the 7.

I actually became quite adept at this typing strategy.  I used it on typewriters for all of my papers.  By the time I reached high school, this mode of typing had become ingrained in me.  During a Business class, the teacher repeatedly tried to get me to switch to ASDF-JKL;, but finally gave in when she watched me accurately type close to 90 words per minute using my method.  Today, I can still type quickly, with few mistakes, and can even type without looking.  Sure, not as quickly as traditionally trained typers, but I hold my own.

I shared my memories of my learning experiences with my mother recently.  Mom recalled a teacher in my elementary years - an older woman whose name she could not remember - that had to call her constantly about my behavior.  The teacher was frequently at her wits end with me, and was at a loss for what to do.  Sure enough, that was Mrs. H.  Oh poor Mrs. H.  I don't remember being so badly behaved.  But I know me.  I know I could be a complete pain in the #$$ and a total knucklehead.  Still, she persisted through it and found ways to reach me and help me learn.

Without Mrs. H being accepting of me regardless of my behavior, without her allowing more student-driven, collaborative work, I would not have these learnings and memories that I hold so dear in my mind.  In my college years, I found myself lost, not sure where to focus my studies.  I was a Theater major, but knew I wanted something different.  I did some soul searching, and it was remembering my love of science in Mrs. H's classroom that prompted me to change my major and eventually lead me to a Bachelor's in Microbiology, graduating cum laude.  This led me to a Master's in Teaching Biology, which led me to where I am today, writing this blog on my autobiographical website that tracks my Maker projects, love of science, and love of education.

As this week draws to an end, take a minute to reflect on your younger years and remind yourself of a teacher that meant something to you.  Did they teach you something that stayed with you for years?  Were you treated with kindness even though you didn't always give it back?  Who helped make you the person you are today?  Can you find this teacher, and give her a thank you? 

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