Okay so everyone has a favorite teacher that they look up to and that makes them want to try harder each day. This is the person that give you an extra push and makes you want to succeed when it comes to academics. It could be as simple as someone who believes in your potential to do well in life and in a future career.

When it comes to teachers I honestly just saw them as a nuisance, especially when I was young. I really did not look forwards to school and all the work that was expected of me each day. This is why I go frustrated when teachers asked us to do so many things to do. I felt like the goals that we were expected to reach were overwhelming and distracted me from all the fun I could be having.

My Fourth grade teacher to this day is still my favorite teacher because she changed that mentality. My teacher was known to be the strictest teacher in the entire elementary school that I went to. She proved to make other students cry and scream. This information scared me and I just remember thinking that I really didn’t want to have her as a teacher. I was hoping that I would be lucky enough to get the other fourth grade teacher who was supposedly super nice. So I was nervous to see what teacher I would have in the upcoming year. After a long month of anxiously waiting I finally found out that I was going to have the hardest teacher in the elementary school come next September. I can remember getting a letter in the mail of all the school supplies that we were supposed to have. I was thinking about how annoying and specific each thing on the list was. She didn’t want your ordinary notebooks and pencils.

So as the year progressed I saw how strict she was she was so meticulous about certain things. She wanted everything done in a specific way and gave no special treatment to any student. We would have to write vocabulary words once a week, there were about 20 words. Remember this is a lot for a fourth grader and also she explained that when we define each word from the dictionary we have to use the right form of speech and break up the word into syllables. Each syllable had to be a specific color. We were also forced to learn cursive. No other teacher ever taught me how to write in cursive. Everyone stated that it is a practice that has now become outdated. My teacher forced us to learn the entire alphabet in cursive and gave us written exams on the material. It is also true that we had to learn long division on the blackboard. We were each asked to come up to the board and solve the problem. The one thing that scared me about this and about the whole class in general was that when we were asked to go up we were judged by the entire class. We had an audience. The teacher would also tell you that you did wrong in front of the class this caused many students to cry and become insecure about preforming in the class.

Now all of these aspects sound very intimidating and scary, but it is true that all of these daunting assignments were necessary. Sure when I was in fourth grade I did not appreciate the meticulous attitude she had, but it really helped me to become a detail oriented person. I think it is important to recognize that she actually taught me the right way to do things. Many teachers take the easy way out and don’t go into the depth and discipline each child like she did. Sure I would have not wanted this class at the time but I think it has made a tremendous difference in the way I take pride in the good work I do and realize when the work that I do needs improvements. This teacher also ridiculed me in front of an audience, which I at first found intimidating but eventually realized that she was preparing me for the real world even though I was only in fourth grade. I would not have wanted to have the easier teacher in the end.