Tuesday, September 16, 2014

I'd Like to Thank All The Little People

I got my first (practice) evaluation of the year last week. It went well and I got some great feedback, but that wasn't the most memorable part of it. My guest evaluator knew me before I was a teacher. He even knew me before I was in college to become a teacher. He was actually student teaching in my mother's classroom when I was a senior in high school. SMALL WORLD! There's just something about this guy that makes me create super random connections, because back in high school we did the whole six degrees of separation with his fiancée working with my best friend...it's a long story. But the craziest thing was even though it had been six years we still knew each other and were able to quickly catch up. He even sent me a note the next week saying how nice it was to have seen each other again!

Tiny impacts...it made me realize that I have had some awesome teachers in my life who have impacted my life. I just wanted to take the time to tribute them all.

Mrs. Shelton was my 2nd and 3rd grade teacher. She looped us up and I loved her for it. I was one of three kids who never got marked for discipline, and she took us out for pizza and ice cream because of it. As a second/third grader you don't think "I should stay in contact with this person", but even so, when I graduated high school she sent me a card. I don't know if she followed that I became a teacher, but I doubt I'd have wanted to become one without her.

Miss Montgomery was my 5th grade teacher. Fresh meat, right out of college. I was originally supposed to have my 4th grade teacher for 5th grade but she moved out of the district before school started. I loved Miss Montgomery. She probably let me get away with much more than I should have, but I don't have a single bad memory from her class. She used "Learn Ball", which had us have teams and we got so many points doing certain things throughout the day and we could actually try and shoot basketballs to earn points at the end of the day. The vividness of some of my memories from 5th grade are crazy, but the best was the fact she gave me the "most likely to become a teacher" superlative. She was there was I was inducted into the National Honor Society, and when I graduated high school. Thanks to modern technology, we're able to keep up with each other through Facebook. It's pretty cool to see the path that was paved for me so young stay true all this time.

I had two teachers in 7th grade that inspired me. The first was my science teacher, Mrs. Effinger, because she pushed me to understand what I had never tried to understand before. At the end of the year, my report card came and it said I got a C in her class. My parents were furious, especially when I said I had no idea who I could have gotten a C. Two weeks later, I get a card from her in the mail saying that there was a mishap with the grades, I had actually gotten an A-, and that they should be honored and proud to have a daughter like me I'M NOT KIDDING! My mom was touched, and it was nice to have a teacher that challenged me.

Mrs. Jennings was my 7th grade English teacher. One of those teachers that you just have an instant connection with. To this day I thank her for putting up with my huge ego thinking that I had a decent writing bone in my body. I cringe every time I read them now...but she is a saint! She encouraged me to write! If it weren't for her I might not be so obsessed with keeping up a blog...It's not fiction, but it's been one of the best outlets I've had. Even if it's a mindless post it keeps me sane.

Mrs. Shumaker was my high school French teacher. She's the reason why I'm convinced that every French teacher needs to have some insanity in them...and it's so true. It's not easy to take French. The spelling is different, the pronunciation is different, you cannot be a student not wanting to do work, and do well in French. Which means that I have to spend a lot of time making my lessons engaging and comprehensive so that whatever learning type my students are, I can reach them. As a teacher now, I look back at some of the things she had us do and think "THAT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE NOW!!!" Every other French teacher I have met has had some crazy in them, so I'm determined to keep the trend going.

I only had Mrs. Cumberworth for one year as a teacher, but she was the English Academic Superbowl coach, and I participated in that for the three years that I didn't have her as a teacher. She was another one that made me learn to challenge myself, and that's a skill I can't thank anyone enough for. Not only did I spend free time working on reading and understanding extremely complex works of literature, but she helped me develop my writing style more than anyone else has. There was one college project my freshman year where I had to turn around and write 17 pages essentially in a day...and I was able to do so thanks to her. Now people can't get me to stop writing, if you couldn't tell from this extremely verbose blog entry...

As much as I want to keep the parallelism with titles and last names, it's so hard for me to call her "Mrs. Said". Stacy Said was the first face I saw on campus at Ball State. I was participating in the Accelerate Program to kick off the school year, and she was the staff coordinator for the event. She talked about all these leadership opportunities on campus, and I was one who loved to overextend herself by participating in as many things as possible! Stacy advised me from my very first step on campus, first as a representative in the Residence Hall Association, and from then on in every other leadership role I had on campus (and there were several). I didn't realize how big of an impact she had on me being a leader until she moved before my senior year...and she was just no longer there.

Dr. Gilman at Ball State was the first professor I had who I thought was a mad genius. If anyone were to actually have the French language MASTERED, it would be him. He and I connected because he instantly saw my enjoyment for French grammar. Even though I took his composition class before his grammar class, he saw it in me, sought me out, and led me down his path of genius. When I did eventually take his grammar class, on top of his normal homework he had me working on text translations, in case I decided teaching wasn't for me and I wanted to become a mad genius like him. He seriously had a good ten years of my life mapped out if that's the path I decided to take.

Mr. Cooper wasn't a traditional teacher I had, mostly because he was the general manager at the movie theater where I spent my summers in between college semesters. However, he is the first person to actually take the time and teach me how to lead. I was just a floor staff member when he became general manager, and he took the time to evaluate me, give me feedback, and watch me grow throughout my four and a half years there. He had me as a trainer, supervisor, lead supervisor, and then I became an assistant manager just under a year ago. He took the time to invest in me, and that type of education is something that I couldn't learn from a classroom. Even though I no longer work at the theater, his lessons find themselves with me in my classroom.

Last but not least, is probably the mentor I talk about the most. Dr. Stallings is so much more than a university professor these days. She's a colleague, a mentor, a confidant, and a friend. She is the direct reason why I am exactly where I am today. Besides her astounding knowledge of language, she showed me a whole new world of passion with working with English Language Learners. I owe her so much when it comes to my teaching path and career. She is magic. I hope our paths cross in the future and we're able to work together once again.

There are so many others who impacted my life and my decisions as to who I am today. Obviously I would not be where I am without everyone, but these individuals stand out to me, even though some of our contact was over a decade (almost two!) for some. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I will always appreciate what you have done for me.