A teacher can inspire or mar a child's life

R

Rose65

Senior Member
Location
United Kingdom
My favourite teacher taught English language and literature. To this day I remember her gentle but authoritative way. She had real passion for the subject and brought literature to life, she encouraged me and believed in me. I was a shy, sensitive , unhappy girl, my home life was just terrible. I already loved books as they were my escape but my English teacher just brought out the best in me. It resulted in an A Grade at O Level and a lifelong love of literature. I hope you can see her influence in how I write here! I pride myself in grammar, punctuation and spelling.

I also had a Latin teacher who taught me about discipline and application, he was excellent. To do good work and have praise from him was hard earned and well worth it. My history teacher inspired us all, she was so passionate about it and woke up our minds, to this day I love history.

So, a teacher can really shape a child's whole life. Of course it can work the other way, I recently read about an actress, Hannah Waddingham, who was told by her drama teacher that she would never be an actress on screen - she has proved her wrong and is very successful.

I know someone who was told by one teacher he would never achieve anything because he was useless and stupid - that man is now a very very successful business man, he wasn't academic but is very clever indeed. He used that teacher's words to drive himself and prove him wrong.

So, have a teacher's words affected your life?
 

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Yes, I had a 4th-grade teacher whose main purpose in life was to suck the joy of learning from the souls of her students. On one of my Facebook groups made up of members of my graduation year, the mere mention of her name can send a collective shudder from coast to coast.

Luckily, for 5th grade, I had an angel for a teacher, so I got back on track.
 

Yes my English teacher who was an American from one of the Carolinas....


Conversely my Maths teacher was a sadist who carried a leather belt over his shoulder under his jacket so he could lash out with it at a seconds notice, and did...
 
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In Grade 3 Miss Blackwell taught me nature study and encouraged us to bring in specimens we found in the garden. She also taught us to be kind and release them back to their environments.

In Grades 5 and 6 Mr McPhee encouraged us to think for ourselves and to believe in ourselves. He taught us how to speak up for ourselves, always with respect.

In high school Mrs Murphy and Miss Cleary inspired me to love science and to be a problem solver. Miss Palmer our French teacher was always calm and methodical and made lessons enjoyable, whether we were learning to translate passages from French to English or vice versa. She taught us French songs and conversational French.

I was lucky to have so many teachers who helped to satisfy my curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Because of them I too became a teacher and some recent feedback from some of my ex students has indicated that I managed to inspire at least some of them along the way.
 
I had a teacher who was a great teacher of Spanish, but a terrible teacher of students. He would orally grill students on assignments in class, and if you didn’t know an answer would ask if you were lazy or stupid. He would badger and humiliate students who disappointed him, calling them “miserable wretches.” No child-based curriculum there, or individualized instruction. He had his standards, they were high, and he told us “I am the cold, cruel world.“ If you survived his instruction, however, you certainly were proficient in Spanish…

That kind of stuff would never be tolerated today! It did help me, however, in dealing with a cruel, implacable supervisor I’d have in the future…
 
hollydolly said:
Yes my English teacher who was an American from one of the Carolinas....


Conversely my Maths teacher was a sadist who carried a leather belt over his shoulder under his jacket so he could lash out with it at a seconds notice, and did...
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Terrible. Learning ought to be a joy. Schooldays ought to be the best times but just are not for many of us.
 
I attended 11 schools before it was over, some of my teachers I loved, but it's easier to remember the bad ones. I had two at the same school, one was the music teacher she was a piece of work, if you had a voice she loved you if like me you couldn't sing then you were below contempt and not worthy of being in her presence.

The other was an alcoholic music teacher who kept a pint of Mogen David in her purse.
 
There were several teachers that I had in elementary school that I loved. Some were older and grouchy. Old Mr. Foster whom I had for a teacher in Florida, was very grumpy, but entertaining as well. I never had a teacher that I truly hated. Thank God!
 


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