Teachers - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Week #41

Week #41 – Teachers. Did you have a favorite teacher when you were growing up? What class(es) did this person teach and why did he/she make an impact on your life?

One of my favorites was my sixth grade English and history teacher. He didn't like being confined to a classroom and it wasn't unusual for us to do some of our lessons outdoors. He didn't like being confined to a textbook either and we did many reading assignments that were outside of our prescribed lessons. We did grammar lessons too, but only for one week out of each grading period when we would go outside and sit in a circle while going through the lessons. He could sense when the class was getting restless and would call a recess that made a world of difference in our attention spans. I've often wondered how he would fare in today's education system where everything seems to be geared towards having the students score well on the standardized exams.

Another favorite was my high school band director. He had a wonderful rapport with the students and didn't teach us by rote as some of my earlier band directors did. He taught us how to be able to read and play new music and he didn't accept anything less than our best efforts. He had many impacts on my life including a love of many different kinds of music, the ability to read and play music, and a love of football! The love of football comes from the many hours spent in the marching band and the wonderful spirit the band had in supporting our team. The skills I learned in high school enabled me to be accepted in the music school in college and play in the college concert band even though I didn't major in music.

I should also mention my ballet teacher. I started dance lessons when I was eight and continued through the tenth grade. She was one of the nicest teachers I've ever encountered and taught through encouragement and constructive criticism. The yearly recitals were done in full costume and were great fun.


This is a weekly challenge from GeneaBloggers called 52 weeks of personal genealogy history.