This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, so I thought I would do just that. 90% of my school memories are from elementary school alone. I attended a neighborhood school from grade K to 6 and I adored my teachers, my classmates and the experience.
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I am fortunate enough to be connected to several of my school’s amazing elementary teachers via Facebook. This morning, I asked them some questions about teaching, and learning. I thought I would share a couple of responses with you!
Mr. Monaghan & Mrs. Noble (thank you for the picture, Carol!!)
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Mrs. Noble was my 4th grade teacher. I loved her to pieces and one of my fondest memories was our end-of-year barbecue at her house. I couldn’t help but smile wide when she shared with me a photo of myself from that day in particular, as it was a favorite memory of hers as well. Common memories tie us together and make life special.
Clearly, my athletic talent and potential was so apparent, even way back then…. lol…. (1979)
Mrs. Noble taught fifth grade for four years, fourth grade for three years, kindergarten for three years, and has now owned a preschool for 28 years! She is still working with children and loving it. Life is so different now, than it was when I was in elementary school, so I asked Mrs. Noble what she wished she had available to her in the classroom back then, and/or what do she wished was still the same in today’s classrooms…
“I wish we had computers for communicating with kids and families back then. I wish that we still had the flexibility to spend more time on the whole child instead of focusing quite so much on the “standards”. Play and social skills seem to have taken a bit of a back seat, which I think is a shame. My teaching advice is remember to smile and take time to enjoy the children. They can tell if you really love what you do!”
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Mr. Monaghan was a teacher on our 6th grade team. 6th grade was the year we participated in Outdoor Education – a week away from home in the woods of Ossipee, New Hampshire. It was during this week I came to know what a great teacher Mr. Monaghan was. He taught Language Arts for thirty-five years: ten at Fisher Elementary School and twenty-five at Johnson Middle School. Each year he had four sections of ELA and one session of either Social Studies, Math or Science. For eight years at Fisher, he was the Grade 6 Music teacher. Throughout, he was involved as a drama coach either collaborating or working alone. At Johnson, the drama workshops were for Grades 6-8. His enthusiasm was (and still is) contagious. See for yourself:
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“I miss the contact with children, their parents and my colleagues. I loved building the students’ self-confidence, meeting the different learning styles and helping kids navigate those tricky pre-adolescent years. Times change, but a child’s issues haven’t. Kids want to feel good about their life, their schoolwork, their friendships. The teacher creates positive memories that sustain children when the going gets rough.
Teaching is the best and the hardest job around. I have teaching anecdotes for a lifetime. I am very lucky to still be in contact with many of my former students.”
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I love being connected to these and some of my other former teachers all these years later. I hope each of them have come to know the difference they made in the lives of their students. My teaching style has become a mixture of the best my teachers had to offer. Over 30 years later, they still make me feel special!
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Have you connected with a former teacher lately? Why not do so this week? As for my current students – I always encourage them to write or visit anytime. Though I don’t always recognize their grown-up faces, I ALWAYS remember who they were and what they meant to me. Those feelings never go away. Thank you for sharing your children with me, I will cherish them always.
Dream Big,
