All time Favorite Teacher and why

[low-key]

Mrs Hilliegus , she was my 6th grade teacher, she seen more in me then any teacher I ever had, she would tell me Jason I pray for you, cause I could see under all your clown stuff you are a good person with so much potential. I hope I didnt disappoint you to much Mrs H, you never disappointed me ( I wish I would of told her this stuff when she was alive)

 

[Kittyblue]

Mrs. Stanton, high school English. She made learning fun. She did a party at her house where students picked an author to come as, and they were supposed to behave as that author all night.

You know, when areas do that teacher of the year stuff, it's almost always junior high or high school teachers. They really make an impact at an impressionable age.

 

[Allison Joy]

Okay. I know you said "all time," but I've got to give two answers, because I'm not sure if "college professor" is included in "teacher."

K-12
My 9th grade science teacher, who we all just called "Doc." I was this tiny, 4'8" (at that time) freshman, and was a bit overwhelmed. As you can imagine, passing period for someone who is 4'8" in a high school of around 2000 is... not fun. looking back, I can honestly say that passing period was nearly panic producing. Like... to the point that when I've gone up to the school for events and such as and adult, I STILL cringe when I hear the bell. So after a mildly frighting first half of the day, I pretty much instantly felt at home and at peace in Doc's room. He was just one of those teacher that exuded love to his students. He was the sponsor of FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes), and when I inquired, but said I probably wouldn't go because I wasn't an athlete, he said, "Here, we like to call it Fellowship of Christian Anybodies!" He also set me on course to have perfect attendance all four years of high school. I still keep in touch with him, and he's still just amazing. A lot of that (the passing periods, feeling at peace in his room, etc.) I really didn't even notice until I reflected back years later.

College
Dr. Hamblin. I had had him my Freshman year for one class, and really liked him. I was an education major, and, due to field experience and student teaching, it was recommended that all education majors take their "Senior Seminar" course their junior year. I found once called "Sports and Literature" that was taught by Dr. Hamblin. I like (watching) sports (heh. See above story about FCA....), I like literature, I knew I liked Dr. Hambliln, and it fit my schedule. SCORE! (Pun totally intentional.) This class was team taught by Dr. Hamblin and another professor. ONe of the first days, I stayed behind to tell them that I technically don't meet the prerequesites for the class, since I was taking it as a Junior. He said, "Allison, I know you. You'll be just fine." Then he turned to the other professor and said, "Have you ever met Allison? I've had her in class before and she's a good writer." And I just stood there in utter shock. A college English professor just called ME a good writer. Shortly before this, I had written something that I thought I liked, and this comment pushed me to join a Christian writing community that has meant a lot to me ever since. I have even had some of my stories published in books produce by this writing community, and have had the opportunity to give Dr. Hamblin a couple of the books and keep in contact with him too.

 

[smilingmouse]

My high school French teacher, Mlle. Kress. She was an inspiration as a teacher and is the reason I went on to be a French major in college. Outside of the classroom , she was equally amazing. She became my second mom and will be grandma to my son when he arrives in November

 

[neverlandsky]

College forensics professor. Can’t say name because last I heard they were working for Dept of Homeland Security. At the time they were an exFBI agent, head of resort security, and was teaching as a side hustle to put their kids through college. Their kids would call during class and they would take the call. Before the days when everyone had a cellphone. Lol. So it was story time majority of the time. FBI case stories were awesome. Had a cameo in a major movie and had stories of hanging out with the A list actors. That class wasn’t a class, it was pure entertainment. Basically taught me that although we work, make sure you’re having fun doing it.

 

[Kitty 34]

We called her Mrs. C. She was my Latin, Mythology, and Comp teacher in HS. I liked her because she always believed in us students and tried her hardest to make us successful even if we stumbled. I really tried to mimic her during my teaching years.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Mr. Holt, high school English teacher. He was probably the first teacher who treated us more or less like adults. We were all there to have fun reading, thinking and talking.

It didn't hurt that his classes were awesome: Authors of the Roaring 20s, English Romantic Poets, Lyric Poetry (studying the Beatles and others as poets). How can you not have fun drinking tea and reciting Burns' "To A Mouse," or breaking down and studying "Eleanor Rigby"? But he was very cool.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

Miss Endress, my 6th-8th grade art teacher. She saw my potential for art, and always encouraged me to push myself past what I thought I could do. She arranged for me to take extra art classes from 6th grade on. Instead of music (at which I sucked anyway), I would go to the art room and take lessons with other classes, or take classes after school. She was the one who told me I should go to Creative and Performing Arts high school and helped me get a portfolio together for the exhibition day where their art instructors made the decisions as to who got accepted. She was, besides my parents, my biggest supporter. I adored her and we kept in touch until she passed away. She got to see me make a career in art, for which I'm very grateful.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Mr. Reese. My high school US History and AP Econ teacher. He had so much passion for what he taught and it showed. And he always found a way to bring life lessons into his teaching, some that I will never forget. And taking us high school seniors to NYC for an overnight field trip that included a scavenger hunt through Wall Street district on our own and a Broadway show for AP Econ was pretty dang cool too.

 

[mrsheppo]

Mr. Ratto my 7th grade business teacher. He taught us more than just how to balance a checkbook and type (1970's) and did everything with a sense of humor and good spirits. He was an inspiration for all his students.

 

[bcla]

It was a college class. The instructor was Professor Michael O'Flynn, who was originally from Ireland, but a professor of electrical engineering at San Jose State University. He also taught part time math classes where I got my masters.

He taught classes on probability that I took. They were considered graduate level "applied math" classes, but the content and textbooks were really just lower-division undergraduate level. He was quite a character. He was always gregarious and talkative, but he was never PC. Once when he commented that a student had a very Irish name, she noted that her fiancé was Italian-American and he wasn't afraid to say something a little bit rude about it. I don't know how to describe it, but he could be crude and biting without sounding like he was mean-spirited about any of it. Since the classes were about probability, he would go off into tangents about his gambling habits, including betting on horse racing and how he believed point shaving wasn't a bad thing as long as the players didn't deliberately lose a game. And then there was that accent.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/mercurynews/name/michael-o-flynn-obituary?pid=185874551

 

[PollyannaMom]

It is reeeeeealy hard to pick one - I had so many I loved!!

But for today, I'll mention my 7th grade math teacher - for dragging out of us what he could have just told us.

My friend and I had read a math trick in a book (not our textbook, just a novel, in which one of the characters used it.) We went to him after class to ask why it worked, and he gave us a hint where to start, but then veeeery patiently (likely when he could have been getting a lot of other stuff done) nudged us to figure out each step on the board and prove it to ourselves. I've never forgotten that problem, and I've lost count of how many others it helped me solve over the years, not to mention the pure confidence it gave us.

It's the little things.

 

[chickapin parterre]

x

 

[sasywtch]

Mr. Mikela, my high school band teacher. He came to our HS at my sophomore year. When my best friend and i were doing registration (we got to pick our own classes), he was excited we were in band and asked what instrument we played. We said baton LOL Unknown to him, the majorettes (my friend and I) took band to practice football routines and to coordinate our routines to their music for parades. He was not amused but we became his favorites and we got a way with lots of things. He did pay us back and had us carry a box of lunches up the steep hills in Berkeley during band day. That box was heavy. This was in 73 and he is still a friend on my and my friend's facebook.
Years later in 89, my son was failing 7th grade due to his dad leaving. My son had been in the gifted program since 3rd grade. When I found out they put him in the regular classes for 8th grade, I went to the school to talk to his counselor to have him back into the gifted program. His counselor was now, Mr Mikela! Mr Mikela put him back in the gifted program and today, my son is a 5th grade teacher with a Phd, interviewing for principal positions.

 

[amcnj]

I too had multiple teachers that stood out in some way (and yes, I had some clunkers too!)

The one that usually first comes to mind was a history teacher I had for US History 1 in high school. He was always so enthusiastic about the subject matter, and had so much energy, that I don’t know how anyone could just sit in the class and not be swept up into it all.

Instead of a textbook we read a number of paperbacks about various topics. One was called FDR and the New Deal, written by William Leuchtenburg, then a professor at Columbia. This teacher visited Leuchtenburg and convinced him to come give a talk to us about FDR. Even Leuchtenburg said he just couldn’t say no to him!

 

[BayouQueen]

Mr. Walker in sixth grade. He drove a battered jeep and dressed like Indiana Jones before there was an Indiana Jones. He'd come in on Mondays with whatever he found on his weekend treks...snakes, tarantulas, fossils. We got to make clear plastic paperweights with a tarantula inside. I don't think that would fly nowadays.

 

[RogueX]

A teacher who went by the nickname "Chief". He taught U.S. history in 10th grade in a town full of snobs, brats and the standard outcasts like myself. He did it in a very engaging way though and he was favored by a lot of students.

One of the reasons I remember him so much is when there was so much turmoil at home and I practically had a nervous breakdown at school, he was a calming voice of reason that I needed.