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We all have that one teacher who makes us dread school or makes us look forward to their class each week. Which teacher, past or present, left an impression on your life that has lasted to this day? And why? I'd love to hear your stories!
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#1
When I was in the 3rd grade I was hit by a truck while riding a motorized scooter. I was in the hospital for a couple months and missed out on a lot of school. I was out of school for so long I was told I’d have to repeat 3rd grade again. Well my teacher actually came to my house and home schooled me. My grandfather offered to pay her extra for her time but she refused. She ended up being my 4th grade teacher also! We are still really close to this day! Whenever I go back to my home town I visit her at my old elementary school where she still works. I still have a little angel bear she gave me after my accident. Her kindness will stay with me always and I’m so grateful for all that she did for me!
Final score:
21points
#2
As a kid I wasn't very bright and I was held back in the second grade. but I will never forget the time I told my teacher that I couldn't read and she smiled and said. " yes you can." one of the first people to actually believe in me when I never did.
Final score:
15points
Jette Wang Wahnon 3 years ago
Lovely memory.....did you by any chance get tested for Dislexia ? many children were labelled as «not bright» or worse before this was better known...
#3
Okay I have 3 (sorry, if you don't want to read it all, just scroll past)
1) My 7th grade math teacher who was also my volleyball coach, she wasn't really all that nice until volleyball season started, i got put on her team and she was a completely different person, instead of yelling all the time and being generally mean and strict, she was smiling and the only time she yelled was when she yelled "YEAAAAAAH! GOOD JOB!" when one of the people on the team hit the ball or served a good serve, and she was so encouraging and i learned a lot from her, and she boosted my self esteem a lot
2) My 7th grade social studies teacher, we had the BEST relationship, he joked around a lot with me, like purposefully leaving me out of stuff then watching me to see if I noticed (which I didn't always do lol), and moving me to the back of the classroom so he "didn't have to listen to me talk and talk and talk", and he was generally a funny, sarcastic guy (like me!!!) who was probably one of my favorite people on this planet and greatly affected my personality for the better
3) My 7th grade ELA and CharacterStrong (which is basically just a mix of leadership and learning about feelings and love and stuff) teacher, he was so nice and chill, and he played guitar so every day we came into the class he would play a quiet song on the guitar to help us relax, then we did a breathing exercise every start of class, and he never turned the lights on, he had dim lamps and fairy lights instead so it was calmer and easier to focus in his room. He always apologized for having kids who were in his ELA class, CharacterStrong class, AND homeroom because we had to see him 3 times in a row for class, and once he taught orchestra so 4 times, but what we told him every time is that we do not mind at ALL seeing him multiple times a day. And he had a personal connection with every student, and he was basically like a therapist. He helped me learn how to relax myself when my anxiety gets really hard to handle and how to find motivation when I just feel like crap and don't want to do anything, and that will stick with me for a long time.
If you read all that, kudos to you, thanks, I appreciate it
Final score:
13points
#4
Ms. Tomlinson, my 7th-grade world history teacher. The GSA was held in her classroom that year and she had a rainbow flag in her classroom. I had a lot of queer friends at the time but because of the way my parents were I still had some internalized homophobia. Most of my friends went to GSA at lunch so I decided to go. And that's when I realized I was definitely not straight or cis. Thanks to her I finally found myself because she told me I should come to GSA at lunch. She was also my favorite teacher, the absolute nicest and best human on the face of the earth. She moved to Spain to teach English the next year and I was so sad and so was everyone else. I hope she's doing well.
Final score:
11points
Pumpkin Spice 3 years ago
GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE!!!! because my parents are homphobic i told them it stood for Good Students of America lmaooooo
#5
As sad as it may sound, no teacher left a lasting impact on my life. Don't get me wrong, I've learned a lot from them, and they've been very useful, but I've never had that idealistic master-pupil relationship with anyone. I envy those that did, and it's really interesting and awe-inspiring to see such relationships, but I chose another path.
Final score:
8points
Jette Wang Wahnon 3 years ago
Steffen Rehm...sorry to say but you seem rather ignorant..this post is about the impact teachers have had in the lives of these BPs..From a very early age children are taught to be fully functioning human beings and teachers play a very important part of that.I am grateful for the teachers I had and for the teachers my children had.Yes,they can be an inspiration as well,I see nothing strange or odd in that.There are good teachers and bad and many so and so...but luckily there are far more good teachers...people dedicated to their work,that of teaching,not for the pay which does not match up to the long hours,in or out of the class-room,but for the joy of it.....just saying..
#6
I've had both negative and positive experiences:
Negative - I had a string of bad chemistry teachers in high school. I've never been a fan of it since, I've even changed majors just to avoid it.
Positive - while there are bad ones, I've had the joy of having two university professors who were so engaging that you would want to go to class and want to go to every laboratory exercise. One of whom became a mentor figure and basically is the reason I'm on my current path today. It is a wonderful experience to work with someone who is open to sharing their knowledge and experiences when so many out there are not (trust me, it's more than you think).
Final score:
7points
#7
My 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Welling made a lasting impact on my life. She increased my love for learning, and saved it too! During 3rd grade, my love for learning was kicked out of me by Mrs. Polhaus* :(>.
* I don't think I spelled that right, but I don't care.
Final score:
7points
#8
My 8th grade english teacher. Granted, I'm no longer in 8th grade, I'm a sophomore, but I still hang out in his room all the time and help him after school. This is how he helped me: I was going through a really rough patch in my life. My father was abusive (mentally and physically) and my mom was in no shape to help me through the pain. So, that led to me *TRIGGER* cutting my wrists. It went on for about 4 months, then my mom found out and I quit. Well, it had been about 10 months, we had left my father at this point. Things were going okay. I was recovering. Then, my mom and step dad had gotten into an argument, ya know just a regular married life disagreement and it hit me too hard and I started cutting again. I told my teacher, Mr. C, and he talked me through things and helped me find a counselor that would talk to me weekly. Mr. C literally saved my life.
Final score:
7points
enby from hell 3 years ago
Good on you, Mr C!!!!! And good on you, @bxttery_bxby, for getting through a tough time!
#9
my GRADE 5 TEACHER TOLD US (and showed is a very informational textbook with A LOT of pictures) HOW BABIES ARE MADE.
Final score:
7points
#10
My 4th grade teacher and my lovely 6th grade Geography teacher
Final score:
6points
#11
So in the 6th grade I had trouble with long division. My Mom was able to help me with it, and I had no further problems. But ever after I was told I was bad at math.
I had zero diffculty with 7th grade math.
Due to a very good teacher.
Comes to 8th grade math. One section, I could not grasp it no matter how my teacher explained it. Instead of failing me, he gave me extra work in the form of numbers that I had to figure the square roots . We had just finished that section.
He kept giving me longer and longer numbers, until by the end of that section they were too cumbersome for me to finish.
His kindness was phenomenal.
9th grade math, first day idiot teacher puts an equation on the board. I ask what it all means. His reply? " it doesn't matter, just memorize it" Nope nope nope nope nope!
I will Never forget that. I think I only passed the class because he didn't want a failure on his record.
Freshnan year of college, I took scuba diving. Lots of math and tests Every week.
Math is essential to survival. I knew all the parts of the equations. Never missed a single one on any tests.
Changed colleges. Had to take a math class. There was a special math class just for liberal arts majors. Because they recognized that some people just think differently. And so need to be taught differently. Am grateful to all the good math teachers out there.
Final score:
6points
#12
I have two but neither were my teacher. My son's 3rd grade teacher introduced him to the Special Olympics and gave me more tools to help my son. My daughter's preschool teacher helped my daughter interact with the world and gave me hope when at one time I never thought I would hear her say 'momma' or truly play. Both teachers gave my children a door into the world when they were both trapped in their own.
Final score:
6points
Jette Wang Wahnon 3 years ago
I am SO happy for you and may your kids continue to thrive...how can they not with a mum like you ?
#13
I went to a medium sized Catholic high school in OH. The freshman advanced geometry teacher was also the math department chair, AP Calculus teacher and NHS advisor. I *loved* math, and was an enthusiastic student, but this woman just ground my gears. A big part of our weekly grades in her classes were these posters we had to make illustrating a concept from class. She graded you in part on the look... graphic design, in a math class.
She also was a huge stickler on arbitrary rules. Deadlines were to the minute, no exceptions. Wanting to avoid her notoriously rigid AP Calc class, and wanting to get some college cred, I took the Calc series at my local community college, which also let me take more advanced courses than the HS provided. She was cold to me all of senior year, partly because she wanted me in class for the interaction with my friends that took her class. I'll give her that, she did care about the actual teaching.
Still, she aggravates me to 20 years on. She did teach me that you will just have to deal some with rule-crazy, arbitrary jerks in love with the system they perpetuate, and who relish their own authority.
Sure, I've had many inspiring teachers that made me excited to learn and discover, and I wish I could give them a shout out here, but man, that mean-spirited math lady left a mark.
Final score:
5points
enby from hell 3 years ago
Oof, I hate teachers like this. Actually, I hate PEOPLE like this, who think they're better than everyone else bc of their authority
#14
My 6th grade math teacher. I was behind in 6th grade, because I didn't focus much in school math in 5th (I went to a Saturday math class that allowed me to skip a grade. I started with 50's and ended with high 80's. That's why I wasn't killed for 5th). My school has different math levels. Most kids get into Compacted, the one I'm in. It's the middle level and you learn a year in advance. Both the highest (Accelerated) and Compacted intentionally make the math class super difficult in 6th to drop as many students as possible. Passing average is an 85 and in the beginning, I was scraping low 70's. I fought hard to raise my average. This teacher was hated by so many kids in the class (I had the bad class). They accused her of teaching the lesson wrong (which she only did twice and cleared up confusion the next day when she found her mistake) and making them fail the test (which was like far away from both occasions). They blamed her so much for showing favoritism (she only did so because I, along with 5 or 6 other kids, were the only people not disrupting the class and giving it our all), that she quit at the end of the year. She was the reason that I was getting high 90's at the end of the year. She pushed me past my original limits and helped me be better equipped to go catch my dream job.
Mrs. Castagnola, wherever you are, I love you so much and thank you for being my 6th grade math teacher.
Final score:
5points
#15
my 4th grade teacher let us grow (almost) whatever plant we wanted. some people grew vegetables or herbs and could eat it during break time. I grew a Venus Flytrap named bug soup. Plus the teacher was super nice.
Final score:
5points
#16
my public speaking and hs101 teacher. he’s one of the few that actually cares about people. you can always tell when the teachers are there just for the money or when the teachers are there for the money but they care about the job and the impact they make on people. he doesn’t bs people and he doesn’t believe in busywork. he actually understands the high school experience and wants the best for people. he’s also the football coach, but he watches every high school sports game he can make it to. he used to be an english teacher as well. i’m not sure how to express it but he just really cares, and we share a lot of opinions on the same things regarding the education system. especially how english teachers often ruin reading for people. i hope i can play a game of golf with him this summer, because he’s really just a great guy.
Final score:
4points
#17
He honestly saved my life. had a tick bite and didnt notice, but he did. He was also really funny and sarcastic
Final score:
3points
#18
My current fifth grade teacher. She is amazing and I feel like she truly understands how I feel and act. :)
Final score:
3points
#19
So idk if this counts as a lasting impact because it was only last year, but this one was a big deal for me.
My 6th grade teacher (I'm in 7th now)
Was always very kind and sweet to me. We had a lot of similar interests. I didn't have many if any close friends so during recess I would sit in her classroom and either read or talk with her. I had developed some pretty severe anxiety for a number of reasons. I hadn't told my parents yet, but I just felt comfortable with her. I told her everything. I spilled my guts to her. That was the best decision of my life. She encouraged me to tell my parents, and I did. Shortly after, we went into quarantine. I kept up with her via email for a few months, and eventually, via text. I finally went back to in person school about a month ago. You can not believe how happy I was to get to see her again.
Because of her, my anxiety isn't gone, but it's 85% better. I also grew in my religion (Christianity) because of her.
Thanks Ms. Zoesch 🥰
Final score:
3points
#20
My DET teacher. She was kind but fair and one of the few teachers that could keep my crazy class in control. We often chatted after class.I loved DET and she is one of the reasons i went into product designing.
Final score:
2points
#21
I have been fortunate in having many great teachers,but one thing stands out in my memory and it has nothing to do with teaching..I went to a Catholic school where most teachers were nuns,but our English teacher was not.In those days you would bring your lunch from home and eat it at your desk.The Beef (her nick-name) was in charge of the lunch-break at our unruly 3rd grade.She loved to sing (we could do without ) and was half-way through «Deck the Halls» going «Fa La La La» when her false teth jumped out of her mouth and landed smack in the middle of my class-mate`s sandwich...The girl never brought lunch to school again....
Final score:
2points
#22
my first geography teacher in 6th graade. i loved his classes (and kinda him tooLOL). because of him i learned so much about our world and countries and that i love maps :) i stuied geography at the university because of him
my PE Teacher in 9th to 12th grade. she is super sporty and i am not :D i also have asthma and can't really use my left schoulder/arm, so my doctors gave me a note that i can't do sports but she was like " i don't give a flying f! you do what you can and that will be enough!" and i loved PE with her, i always could say if i don't wanna/can't do something and i could something else instead. but she was so encouranging over the 4 years that it really changed me. i even ran 6miles because of her (and almost died XD)
and my first class teacher.. i liked her a lot, but she told my parents i wasn't smart enough for higher education.. WELL SUCK IT! i went to university anyways :D
Final score:
2points
#23
We were all doing our maths work, little did she know she was still connected to the smart board. SHE WAS SCROLLING THROUGH FACEBOOK!!!!!!!
Final score:
2points
トトロ (Submission author) 3 years ago
She was an angry boomer who hated me so much. I would get yelled at every day! So glad that's over.
#24
My 2nd grade teacher. But not in a good way. I was very talkative and energetic just trying to be social and s**t you know? She would punish me being to energetic. One time we were doing this project with like some dirt and stuff and she said not to press it down. Subconsciously I pressed it down, not knowing what I was doing. I had to miss goddamn recess. I will remember her.
Final score:
2points
#25
Miss Macleod (sp?) who then became Mrs. Buse (sp?). I think it was grade 3. Our dog got ran over and she gave me a card. My Mom still has it...I am almost 50. Lol I often wonder how/where she is.
Final score:
1point
#26
So this is sadly a bad experience. My art teacher in 7th-8th grade who we’ll call Mrs.P, she was the worst. One day she was checking over my project and I had one thing wrong with it and then instead telling me to fix that part, she told me to redo it from scratch and it was due the next day so I had to stay up all night to get it done. One time she was setting up notes and it was taking forever to set up so I started drawing and while she was still setting it up she walked over to me and said “ you can’t draw while we are doing notes” but she hadn’t even set up the notes yet. So she then told me to go throw it away, I had worked a week on that drawing so I didn’t want to. She then said “well I’ll just stay here until you do” and she glared and me for a while then I threw it away. This is the one that really hurt my self esteem and made me have a lot more depression than I used to. So when she was checking over your art she would mutter stuff like “oh this looks terrible” and I could hear her mutter that and so it really hurt a lot cause as a teacher kids look up to you and want approval form you but that just hurt a lot.
Final score:
1point
#27
Mine was actually my reading tutor that I had from 1st grade through 6th grade. I had 'been a good reader' in Kindergarten but when i got to 1st grade 'something happened' according to my teacher and I was an 'awful and slow reader'. It would now be considered a processing problem and not 'just a reading problem' as it was named after taking a day full of tests. Enter Mrs. Vozanelik, a former teacher of my brother's that was now a full time reading tutor. Because of all of her hard work, I love reading. I may be slower, I may need to blow the words up on my iPad to read, but man, without her I would have given up on reading and not pushed through like I did. I still hear her in the back of my head when I start to lean while I'm reading - you don't go off the starting blocks like that - why are you trying to learn things like that. I loved her. She was the greatest and when I was being called stupid, in school, for my reading problems, she always gave me the courage to keep my head up. She gave me confidence, when I didn't have much to spare and it opened up a world to me that I could get lost in, when reading books. I will forever be grateful that she didn't give up on my potential. She was incredibly proud of the semester I got a 4.0 in college. I wish she was still here to see how far I've come in life, in part, thanks to her.
Final score:
1point
#28
Ms. Brooks; my high school geography teacher in the backwoods Deep South. She hailed from South Africa and we bonded over the fact that we were both born overseas. (I was born in Yokohama, Japan). She stopped me as I waked out of her class for the last time before summer and told me, "Get out and see the world; this is no place for you."
100+ countries, all 7 continents, all 50 states later, I'd like to think she made a difference.
Post Script- I managed to locate her 30 years later and thanked her for her advice.
Final score:
1point
#29
1st Grade Teacher: "What comes after 69?"
Me: "Mouthwash."
!st Grade Teacher: "Get out".
(I was never the same after that...)
Final score:
1point
#30
In fifth grade I had a teacher called miss Patel and she was AMAZING
She encouraged me to write stories and to read a lot, which helped me become the person I am today. But that b*#$h corona had to ruin everything....
Final score:
1point
#31
I've had a lot of great teachers. My third grade teacher was truly amazing. She had this thing where when everyone memorized our times tables, we did "Camping in the Classroom" where we watched a movie, sat in a tent, and ate food that she made. She also made sure that my friend and I had something to eat, as we are both vegetarian. My fifth grade teacher was also great. He made me love learning.
My fourth grade teacher really disliked me, and I'm not sure why. He didn't seem to like kids, and made it clear that his first choice of job was being in the Olympics, which he was then unable to do as he tore his hamstring. He was very grouchy, and everything I learned that year I learned by teaching myself, as he was not good at teaching. Honestly, if you were in fourth grade at my school, you were out of luck. Both teachers were mediocre at best. He also interrupted the lecture to send this kid to the teacher's lounge to get Ginger Ale for his daughter, and spent the next 20 minutes explaining why everyone should have Ginger Ale when they are sick. Also, my first grade teacher hated hugs, which is a bit strange for a teacher of small children that love to give hugs to their favorite teacher, but okay.
Final score:
1point
#32
My eighth grade math teacher that said I could not care less and would never amount to anything
Final score:
1point
#33
miss pearl -- sr english -- taught shakespeare exclusively -- a wrinkled old harpy -- a bully from whom all bulliess took their cue -- I, bullied at home by a drunkard father, bullied at school by her and other teachers putting in their time as well as peers drawn to the meek and the weak, cowed by this shrew, failed this class that especially in language and topic bore no relevance to my pathetic life -- didn't graduate -- had to take a summer english course comprising, thank goodness, nothing to do with shakespeare -- which course fulfilled my high school experience -- miss pearl -- hopefully burning in hell
Final score:
1point
#34
When I was 18, I failed my exams to get into University and decided to repeat the entire year so that I could get the grades I needed. My Design & Tech teacher came to find me and told me how much he respected my choice and that he would do everything he could to get me through the year and get those grades. Throughout the year he mentored me and gave me the thumbs-up whenever he saw me. At the end of the year, I got my grades and went to University. He retired a couple of years ago and before he left, I took him a bottle of Single Malt Whiskey with a note attached which said: "I know you're sick of the sight of 12 year olds, but hopefully this bottle will be one you can appreciate in your retirement. Thank you for being the inspiration". 30+ years later and I have my own very successful business employing dozens of people and he is directly responsible. I am so grateful.
Final score:
1point
#35
At 13, I was the youngest freshman in my high, my schedule had me in Crafts class 4th period,
Final score:
1point
#36
The teacher thats had the most impact on my life is my current english teacher. He's so passionate for teaching that i could never see him do anything other than that. In the last weekend i got to watch him perform with his band and it blew me a way. He said after the concert that music and teaching are his passions. Its inspired me to start getting into music seriously again. Even more he's helped me mentally a lot. Before I came to my current school I had gone through some stuff.... like dropping out of my last school and having severe anxiety & panic attacks. After I wrote my english exam in december i had an attack. My teacher helped me through it and reminded me about when i first met him and how strong i've become. He met me when i was at my lowest and as seen to where i have grown so i'm so thankful for that. He's honestly the most amazing teacher i've ever had.
Final score:
1point
#37
I had some great teachers in primary and high school, but for me the teacher with the biggest effect on me came in college. I was a computer major but it was my first semester so mostly I was taking the mandatory survey courses. I hated history up to that point, my high school history teacher stood in front of the class and read the chapter out loud and then we silently answered the questions at the end. So my first semester in college I get Dr. Lebreton and I have my book out and she comes in introduces herself and says we can put away the books, she said we can read them on our own if we want to but she is going to be talking about all the things that aren't in the book. The first lesson was on the Hamilton and Burr duel, a nuanced, deep dive look at all of it. I hung on her every word. We asked questions and got into all the great historical what if scenarios that are so much fun to think about. Dr. Lebreton taught me something I guess I should have already known but didn't, that history was made by real people with real personalities, flaws and desires. I didn't become a historian from this class but she did inspire in my a lifelong interest in learning about historical people and events and thinking about them in real ways. Thanks for that Dr. Lebreton, you made my life much more interesting.
Final score:
1point
#38
My parents. I’m homeschooled :)
Final score:
1point
#39
Definitely my 7th-grade teacher! She was so nice and always helped me when I was stuck on something! When I started to do bad in school, she let me have extra-credit She understood how kids felt like, and she'll always be the best teacher ever!
Final score:
0points
#40
My parents (pre-2nd) and Mrs. Alvarado. She made everything so much more fun for class.
Final score:
0points
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