Inspired by Teachers

I admired the incredible and teachers who inspired everyone in attendance last night’s Teacher of the Year event. Attendees donned red to signal they’ve been inspired by a teacher in their lives.
Each year, all the schools select one experienced teacher of the year and one beginning teacher of the year. Selected experienced teachers went beyond the expected teaching requirements. Beginning teachers show they have maturity, leadership and instructional ability to become an outstanding teacher in the future.
I don’t know how today’s teachers do it when I see the kinds of things my kids learn at a younger age. Plus, they communicate on a regular basis thanks to emails and phones in the classroom (not in my day).
One Teacher Who Inspired Me
My 10th grade English teacher was an inspiring teacher. I knew her before she was my teacher as her daughter and I played soccer together. I was relieved to finally leave the English teacher I had in my freshman year and somehow again in 10th grade. Awful teacher. Opposite of inspiring.
Shakespeare became interesting thanks to her. That year we did Julius Caesar and I had to memorize the “Friends, Romans and countrymen” speech. I dreaded memorizing poems, but the speech gave me a greater appreciation for the play. That year, we also read The Masque of the Red Death and The Telltale Heart and discussed the meanings behind the stories. I loved the discussions. Maybe that sparked my love for English and literature? Who knows. But I haven’t had many classes that led to interesting discussions like Mrs. Graves’ did.
Tell us about a teacher who inspired you.