Teachers make an Impact

This has floated around Facebook over the past few days: Over 23,000 teachers were given pink slips in California. In honor of ALL teachers, copy this into your facebook status. We are willing to post colors of our underwear, and places we were born. Let's honor those who have made an impact in ALL of our lives! In the comments name a teacher who has impacted you!

As I got to thinking about who I'd "post" in the comment section, it occurred to me that I had several amazing teachers (all public school) that have shaped me as a student, teacher, life-longer learner, and person.

• Mrs. Edge, Rios Elementary School, first grade: saw my strengths in school and encouraged my parents, repaired all the damage that my kindergarten teacher created
• Mr. A, Rios, fourth grade: taught me a lot of things that we (teachers) shouldn't do with students
• Mrs. Warford, Blossom Valley Elementary School, sixth grade: taught me how to write without worrying about my spelling, suggested typing everything, she loved history which made it come alive for me, really invested in me as a person
• Ms. Halpin, Greenfield Middle School, seventh grade English Language Arts: books, books, and more books! She loved to read and passed that love of reading to her students. Reading together and talking about the books was her "thing" (which is now my "thing" according to my students).
• Mrs. Rider, Greenfield, eighth grade Algebra: we bugged her every day, but she never stopped teaching or told us off. I have since apologized :)
• Mrs. Solaway, Greenfield, US History: taught with brain-based strategies including mnemonics, hand motions, songs, etc. I have used these strategies as a student since eighth grade and teach with them daily.
• Mrs. Ellis, Greenfield, eighth grade English/Yearbook: personally invested in every student, challenged me to be a better writer, introduced me to yearbook and the power of a great layout
• Mr. Reck, El Capitan High School, ninth/twelfth grade English: very serious, very high expectations, and a whole lot of work--great training for AP and college work
• Mrs. Erenfield, El Capitan, eleventh grade AP English: read every single essay we wrote and used the word "fluff" 101 times per paper for me. Truly helped me focus my writing (my grad school professors still thank her).
• Mrs. Rosenburg, El Capitan, Chemistry: first time I ever felt competent in a science class even though I had many accidents (and won the award "Most Likely to Blow up the School").
• Mr. Coulsby, El Capitan, tenth grade Humanities, AP Art History: forced us to critically think about everything, silly/spastic class was entertaining (which I try to channel a bit myself).
• Mrs. Barnett, El Capitan, Yearbook: demanded excellence, leadership, and personal responsibility in yearbook. Saw leadership ability in me and pushed me to grow. Taught me how to run a stellar yearbook program!