World's Greatest Teacher

I recently read an article by Brad Meltzer on what he considers to be his best teacher.  He wrote that it wasn’t the Robin Williams type in Dead Poets Society nor was it the no-nonsense Joe Clark type as portrayed by Morgan Freeman in Lean On Me.  No, his favorite teacher and that one that he attributes his success impacted him by simply telling him that he was good at something.  He was a transfer student as a freshman to a new school.  Ms. Spicer discovered quickly that this boy could write extremely well.  There was no room in the English Honors class (imagine that) so placing him there wasn’t possible.  So she kept him in her class, told him to ignore the regular class assignments and to concentrate on the honors level work that she retrieved down the hall. Ten years later, he handed her his first book and said, “I wrote this for you.”  At the time, Ms. Spicer was considering retirement because she felt like she wasn’t having enough of an impact on her students.  Thirteen years later, she really did retire.  A whole bunch of kids were treated to this quality person in that time span.  Her retirement speech included this, “For those of you complaining that kids have changed and that it’s harder to teach these days…Do not give up on these kids!”  Brad Meltzer realized that night that he would forever be her student.

Who was your favorite teacher? In this season of Thanksgiving, I suggest letting them know that.  What did he/she do to become your favorite?  I bet that having a good relationship with them has something to do with this ranking.  Perhaps they told you that you were good at something.  That spurred you on.  Maybe you are choosing this person as your favorite teacher because they challenged you every single day to get better.  At that time, you probably didn’t like that, but in the rear view mirror you have become thankful for that daily push.  I doubt that you would choose the teacher who never challenged you, never engaged you, never questioned you, never wanted to develop a good relationship with you, and when it comes down to it – never really taught you much of anything.  Two years ago, I wrote a letter to my 6^th grade teacher.  I had not talked to her since 1970.  Miss Sexton was pretty intense.  She was no nonsense. She challenged me.  She made me think.  She never let me off of the hook.  She corrected my poor English with some well-placed expectations of what was acceptable along with some well-timed pats on the back.  She was tough…on the surface.  She did want that good relationship with her students and she accomplished that.  She made her classroom a place that I learned I needed to be and, in time, a place where I wanted to be.  Here’s my challenge to you:  take a few minutes and send a handwritten letter to your favorite teacher.  Tell him/her what you are doing now and the impact they had on this. You will make their day.  He or she probably made yours many times over.  Happy Thanksgiving!