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Thank You, Teachers!


One of these days, in my free time, I'd love to track down some of my most influential teachers and thank them. Until then, I'd like to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week by taking some time to thank some of my teachers for some important lessons they taught. They are sort of in chronological order, and there are probably 20 more teachers I could thank.

After writing these, I think it's amazing how much these teachers show up in the work I do now--their strategies, personalities, and styles sometimes creep into my own. I try to remember how their words impacted the way I defined myself whenever I'm talking to my own students (although I could definitely get better at this).  What would you thank your teachers for?

Mrs. Campbell: Thank you for not ratting me out that time I lied about having a retainer (which was actually just a paperclip) after it fell out on the playground.

Mrs. Hugues: Thank you for putting my earrings back in, and thank you for not putting me in the refrigerator box.

Mrs. Inama: Thank you for sharing tidbits of your life. You helped me realize that teachers have lives, too.

Mrs. Nacheff: Thank you for understanding sixth graders by letting us move, laugh, and learn.

Mr. Peck: Thank you for encouraging me to write creatively. I felt like a pro in your class, and I often think of your pencilas, green paddle, and white hair.

Mr. Hansen: Thank you for teaching me the value of quality work and not accepting my made-up chart of the stars.

Mrs. DeLong: Thank you for believing that I was more than just a quiet kid. You gave me a boost of self-confidence when I needed it most.

Mr. Marooney: Thank you for finding a way to make learning math feel like play even though my fantasy baseball team was a complete failure.

Mr. Baguley: Thank you for letting me write really weird stories and not judging me because of those really weird stories.

Mr. Adona: Thank you for making me watch a bunch of weird science fiction movies and introducing me to one of my favorite genres.

Mr. Lambert: Thank you for making me answer burning questions and forcing me to look at your Bill Goldberg poster every day.

Mr. Gardner: Thank you for having high expectations, introducing me to Enya, and teaching me how to actually use commas correctly.

Mr. Johnson: Thank you for putting up with me and my loud, obnoxious friends who always seemed to end up in your class together.

The other Mr. Gardner: Thank you for teaching me what to do if my car hood suddenly flies up on the freeway.

Mrs. Driever: Thank you for introducing me to the possibilities of technology and helping me develop a better work ethic.

Mr. Dalhe: Thank you for being passionate about science. Because of you, I became interested in a subject I previously disliked.

Mrs. Barker: Thank you for showing me the endless rewards poetry gives us.

My poofy bangs and I during one of the above school years.



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