Question of the Week (5/15 - 5/21) -- Favorite Teacher(s)

[JazzyCat]

Question of the week!

Here is a way to get to know one another a bit without getting too personal or taking too much time. I will ask a new question every Sunday. Post your response to the question and visit again throughout the week to comment on others’ responses as well.
To get things started, I will always answer the question when I post.

Please feel free to send me a pmail with suggestions on future questions of the week. I have received a few suggestions already. Thanks!

All players that answer the question will get a small gift of thanks from me. At the least: a hug, some food items, and some drink items.

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Here is this week's question:
Who was/were your favorite teachers from elementary school through college? What did he/she/ they do that really stood out to make them a bit more special than the rest?

Jon Gomez was a great band teacher! When I was a senior, I switched schools. This was not so easy since I had more or less grown up with the group of students from my previous high school. My new band teacher made me feel very welcome and made the transition to a new band quite easy. He also asked me to be the section leader. I was shocked, since I had just begun at that school. I did not have a last period of the day, so I would hang out in the band room to practice or to do homework. He encouraged me to audition for the jazz band, which was held after school. I was a decent musician, but I was shy and not confident in my skills. Also, improvising was quite foreign to me. Well, I practiced, and I made it into the jazz band and it was a great experience. The band was fairly small, so each musician really mattered. Mr. Gomez also encouraged me to audition for State. I did not think I would make it, but I auditioned anyway. To my amazement, I made it.

I was also lucky enough to have a team of incredible teachers in college: Fred Staley and David Spencer. They are two of the most kind and nurturing men I have ever met. Spencer read Stone Fox to us. We got to hear a chapter every class. Near the end of the story, I cried like a baby. Now, Spencer had to continue with the story and be with the rest of the class, but Fred came right up to me, took me aside and hugged me and helped get me back under control. They also did a journal with each of us, where we would write about our intern experiences, college, or whatever else happened to come up and both teachers also wrote back to us. That journal was incredible and I still have it. It also inspired me to do the same thing with my students.

I have had many, many incredible teachers over the years, but here are just a few to get this question of the week started. I hope the rest of you have been as lucky as I have been and have had at least one truly special teacher in your lifetime!

Looking forward to hearing from the rest of you!

Hugs,
Jazzy

[commandermack]

Mrs Farnsworth, the Science Teacher, very understanding person and always had something neat to show you.

[sodafett]

Wow... I really had one teacher through most of my school life that stood out, Mr. Ed Bradley, he was my Science teacher for many years. He always had a smile on his face, he was active with helping the students, making sure they understood things. He always had a joke and if you were having a bad day, he would also listen, he was the best teacher that I ever had and I think he finally retired from teaching last year, I have not been down to visit in a while. He loved experimenting and teaching, it was his passion, and he was really great at it.

[darkgamr]

My anatomy teacher my sophomore year of high school, Mr. Torrence was a total badass. He kept a live alligator in a small container in the corner of the room and he was one of the funniest guys I have ever known. He was a really nice guy and didn't care at all if you showed up late to his class, as long as it wasn't excessively late. I guess his teaching didn't really stand out, but when a teacher is funny and nice, I tend to listen to what they're saying more carefully subconsciously just because I like them. Ended up getting an A in anatomy, even though it was pretty damn hard(had to learn every bone in the human body, had to dissect a cat and learn every muscle, vein and bone etc).