Favorite Teachers

Throughout school I had a few different teachers that impacted me, some even without me being in their classroom as a student. Looking back now I can see how much of an impact they have had on me and will continue to have on me as I become a teacher myself. The two teachers I feel that have influenced me the most are Mr. Ryan and Mrs. Miller.

My first day in a new school in 10th grade I had global studies first period with Mr. Ryan. As soon as I walked in the room Mr. Ryan said hello and talked about how excited he was to teach every student that walked in. Mr. Ryan, throughout my time in his class, was enthusiastic about teaching, the school, and the community. I hated history growing up and now I am concentrating in history myself. I feel like Mr. Ryan, through his stories and teaching, showed me how influential being involved in the school and community would be. Something I will take from him and use in my classroom is his PEW (Positive Event Weekend.) Every Monday we would have to write down one or two positive things that we did over the weekend. If a student said a negative event or didn't have anything to share he would come back to them. This activity helped our class get to know each other better and gave us a positive attitude to work off of in the morning. I will use this in my future classroom to get the same effect from my students.

The other most influential teacher in my life is Mrs. Miller. I never had Mrs. Miller as a teacher myself, because she is my mom. But I was able to substitute in her classroom at BOCES and learn  a lot about teaching and helping students in need myself. When I was subbing in her classroom I saw a lot of kids struggling to do their work and concentrate. Something I want to take from her is how she could pull the student aside, talk to them for a few minutes, and get them back on track and smiling. Her dedication and her connection to the students and the ability to alter her lessons depending on how the class was that day is something I hope to do in the future.

These two teachers are two that have taught me lessons, without knowing it, that will impact how I will teach the future students in my classroom.