I want to be a teacher. Anyone who knows me knows this. I love kids and my happiest days are the days I’m in the classroom. I’ve already written an article on why and I plan on writing an updated one (check that out: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/why-teach) but I’ve never really gone in depth. I’ve never really given a shout out to the teachers who meant the most to me, and they deserve that. I was inspired to write this by a friends’ post on teacher appreciation day earlier this month. He wrote a list of his favorite teachers and what they taught him. As a future teacher who wants to be that inspiration, that post hit home for me. From kindergarten through college, this is my shout out list of inspirations. And for those of you, who were inspired by even just one teacher, shout them out too. Send them an email; let them know how they inspired you. Whether they inspired you to become a teacher, or anything else – they’ll want to hear it. Teachers teach to inspire, and we love to hear that we’re succeeding.

In all my 16 years of education, there are those teachers that I remember for positive things and teachers I remember for negative things. We all have them. Here are the teachers that inspired me to become the future teacher I am today.

To my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Stoger, who let me read Junie B Jones and Amber Brown books and didn’t force me to read below my level, I’m thanking you. The bear family of 2001-2002 will forever live on in our hearts from the counting to the reading. My kindergarten teacher inspires me still today, at 21 years old in 2017. I could not have asked for a better kindergarten teacher, who encouraged me to read even more.

To the teacher who taught me how to multiply with songs, had readathon Fridays with blankets and stuffed animals, and is the first teacher I always think of when asked about teachers I remember, thank you. You know who you are. Third and fourth grade are by far the two years I remember most from elementary school, and that’s because of you. To this day, I sing those multiplication songs in my head every time I have to multiply. I will no doubt be incorporating those songs into my future classroom when learning multiplication. This teacher is the type of teacher who genuinely cares about each and every one of her students, and gets to know each student inside and out. She learns each student’s strengths and weaknesses and will forever be one of my favorite teachers. So to Mrs. Meyers, I thank you with all my heart.

To the elementary school librarian, thank you for allowing me to take out two books each week, instead of one, and for letting me venture into the chapter books long before my classmates. You knew I would be able to finish two books even before the week was up, and you never questioned my choices.

To Mr. Stein, thank you for pulling me out all those days. I didn’t realize it back then, but I needed that. I never realized that the group thing was for social skills or ADHD or whatever, but I am extremely grateful for it. Thank you for helping me become the girl I am today and for being such a huge part of my elementary school career.

To my elementary school art teacher, Mrs. Anisansel, I have to confess I used some of the art project lessons I remembered doing as a basis for two arts lesson plans I needed to create this past year. I can only hope that my future students have an art teacher as amazing as you are.

To my Project EXTRA teachers, thank you for continuously pushing all of us in the gifted program to not only think outside the box, but to not be afraid to think differently. You took my ADHD and turned it from a disability into a major strength. I still have one of my project Extra binders, and it will forever be with me, no matter where I am. You taught me how to feed pet snakes and how to create our own toy from scratch (throwback to our team’s hide and seek robot toy!) You gave me logic problems among logic problems and allowed me to use my imagination while learning, which I definitely needed.

To the entire team of 7-2 and 8-2 teachers from my time in middle school (2008-2010), thank you. To Mr. Keegan especially, I still talk about your lessons all the time in my teach classes! (Also I used two of them as base lessons for reading and writing strategy studies so thank you for that) We were hands down the best team and team spirit will never be the same without the power team of all of you from those two years. I remember my Spanish teacher, Señora Rand, telling us on day one that we were not going to like her because she only spoke Spanish in class (even now when I see her she speaks Spanish to me!) and it was going to be hard, but we were going to thank her later in life. I’m thanking you now. All the things I learned in middle school Spanish suddenly became relevant in college Spanish. I knew the things nobody else did; because of you so thank you. You all encouraged all of us to be the best people we could be and fi I were to ever teach middle school (which I won’t), I’d hope to have had the same teacher experience I hope you all did.

In high school, I had a bunch of amazingly incredible teachers. There were Gam and Nappi (couldn’t have an article about teachers without them!), Watkins, Gemino, Kalner, Epps, Gary, Trenka, Bonilla, and Spanier, and so much more. To Gam and Nappi, thank you for making junior year not as terrible as everyone makes junior year out to be. That was quite an interesting year in two interesting classes. Also Nappi thanks for passing me in creative writing even though I never actually submitted my short story, whoops! Thank you to Watkins for making mornings of senior year so much more exciting. I was excited to be in a first-period class (only two teachers in my life have ever made mornings slightly more bearable, and Watkins is one of them) because we were learning about fairy tales. Gemino and Bonilla are two art teachers who continuously inspired me to go above and beyond what I thought I was capable of. Senior year, I spent 4 out of 9 periods in ceramics with Mrs. Bonilla. She’s the teacher who came in on a Saturday so we could work on ceramics for extra time. How many other teachers would do that? Epps was a math teacher, and we all know how much I hate math. She continuously pushed me to try harder, and when someone can get math through my head, you know they’re good. Mrs. Epps never let me second-guess myself or let our class distract her by asking questions about her personal life. Gary and Trenka made science even more fun. We watched Magic School Bus and Bill Nye the Science Guy, and both science teachers inspired me to want to learn more about biology and earth science. Mr. Gary realized I work better alone and let me work alone when I asked. All of my high school teachers inspired me to go above and beyond what I thought I was capable of. I took that for granted in high school, but now looking back with a new perspective of a teacher, I am SO appreciative of all the opportunities my high school teachers had given me. Each and every one of my high school teachers inspired me to go further and follow my dreams in so many different ways, so thank you.

And of course, there are the college professors that continuously inspire me. One, in particular, deserves a shout out. Professor Carlson is similar to Mrs. Meyers from third and fourth grade. She gets to know each and every one of her students and takes strengths and weaknesses into account. She challenges each and every one of us to try harder. She made an 8 am class engaging and interesting. She brought her therapy dog into class, and knew when we needed help with anything, in or out of the classroom. (Also happy birthday Mayla!) Professor Carlson gave me a fidget cube (which as we al know, I need). She’s the type of person who will be in your life long after you leave their classroom and I couldn’t be more thankful for that.

To all the teachers out there, thank you. We may not appreciate all you did / do for us while we’re your student, but I promise, we all do in the end. As a future teacher, I can only hope to be as incredible as all of my most memorable teachers were for me. I hope to inspire my students each and every day, long after they leave my classroom for the final time. I hope to be that little voice in my students’ heads when they’re in high school or college, telling them that I believe in them and I know they can do it. I hope my students remember my lessons and remember me in such a positive way as I do with my past teachers and lessons. So to all the teachers and future teachers out there, you are appreciated. We don’t get all the thanks we deserve immediately, or even at all, but without us, nobody would amount to anything, and there are not many professions out there that are the basis for life. Thank you. You are appreciated each and every day. Thank you for inspiring me to follow in your footsteps.