Did you ever have a school teacher inspire you in a positive way?

Dudeman1967

Dudeman1967

blah, blah, blah...
I didn't. None of them from K-12. I feel a bit screwed (or maybe not). Maybe I had a case of premature cynicism or maybe I was just unlucky.

I'm not bitter really. It was a good school otherwise.


My youngest son was inpired by three teachers so much so that he is studying to be a school teacher. Maybe he will inspire others as well. That is a whole other thread for sure.

Give your teach a shout out if they were special.
 
For sure. I'm a teacher, so I was directly inspired by some of them, but others were general models for how to live life or checked in with me during crisis.
 
Kevin Sacerdote. High school History. I had him for 3 or 4 classes. He played with me, my dad and a couple friends in a band that played at our school twice. Exceptionally intelligent and passionate about history. Made me want to teach, and I have, just not in that specific type role.
 
None of my K–12 teachers was remotely inspiring. Most of them were idiots who either got into teaching because that was a woman’s job back in the fifties, sixties and seventies (I didn’t have many young teachers in the eighties and nineties) or guys who worked as teachers so they could also coach high school sports. I had a few smart ones but I couldn’t understand why they gave up a bright future to be teachers in Manasshole.

But most of my college professors were inspiring. If they hadn’t been I would have dropped out and gone back to working in IT. And I would have been better off if I had.
 
I don't know about "inspired," per se, but my high school band/choir director was pretty damn supportive of my circle of friends' rock and roll nonsense. He always made room in the annual Christmas concert for us to play rockin' versions of some Christmas tunes. He let us rehearse in the music building at lunch. He even let us borrow his PA for gigs and off campus rehearsals. Also in my senior year, he let me TA the beginning guitar class and helped me set up up an independent guitar study period. And if either of those classes fell on the first period of the day (rotating schedule), he'd give me the keys to his truck and some cash and tell me to go get some donuts for the class. He was a cool dude!
 
Sure! I credit a few of them with having had a positive influence, inspiring and stimulating me, and the fact that I managed to earn my degrees. Not least I very much appreciate how some of them made us consider what you might call ethical and philosophical issues. I guess they ignited some synapses that would otherwise have been mere idle grey matter.
 
I’ve had a few….

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Not really. Maybe a couple who were decent folks and generally nice to have known, but not inspiring. Academically, I was a very good K-12 student and didn’t really need a lot of assistance/active teaching. I was also fairly conscientious/self-directed and didn’t need a ton of prodding/motivation. As a result I didn’t get a lot of inspirational effort. Probably the sort of student who wasn’t super fun to teach; lots of “potential” but kinda on my own trip and not really inclined to buy into stuff that wasn’t my idea. There were a couple of grades where I kinda maxed out the curriculum and was just kinda left to hang out and read or be distracted by the sorry “gifted” kid enrichment stuff. In high school I was a low effort high achiever at a college prep school with a lot of high effort high achievers with dreams of conventional success. (Plus it was the 90s and caring wasn’t cool.) So, again, not anyone’s idea of the kind of student to sink inspiration into. Don’t really feel I learned anything much at school until undergrad.

Had some pretty shitty teachers/educators at points. Just ego trippers and control freaks and authoritarian weirdos. Good lessons on how not to be.
 
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Yes two - one our paths crossed a bunch of times professionally before he retired and I still always referred to him as Mr Surname despite his protestations to call him Robert. An incredible guy, it was amazing, as a bit of a daft 17 year old from the scheme to listen to his thoughts and theories. I'd love to have had a proper insight into the stuff he'd experienced that he'd never share with pupils.

Another was a modern studies teacher who made an off the cuff remark when I was about 15 that I'd probably make a good teacher because I was passionate about things. That didn't make me want to become a teacher then and there but when I decided I was done with my accountancy degree one depressed Sunday night in a Wetherspoons, that comment resounded with me and here I am all these years later. I could still show you the table sat at with my ex when she asked what I'd do if I quit my course and I said: "Mr black reckoned I could teach".
 
Ms Hyland who was my 8th grade core teacher. I was constantly at odds with her and she repeatedly told me I had a bad attitude and if I didn't change, I'd never amount to anything. She made me realize at a young age that people are idiots and I should take what other people think about me with a huge grain of salt.

Mrs Pierce, my high-school social studies and history teacher. She taught me that kindness and calmness goes a LONG way in human interaction.

Mr Lyons - my wood shop teacher. He instilled a love of woodworking and just a general hands-on attitude for creating and fixing that are still with me almost 50 years later. All these years later I can still hear him calling me "fuzz nuts".
 
Several - There was Mr. O' Brien, my 4th grade teacher, who let me read anything from the school library on my own during reading since I was far beyond the rest of the class. Ms. Hulse in 5th and 6th grade helped me get a bit out of my shell. The biggest influence was Dr. Samuel Banks. I had him for American History in 11thy grade and took one of the first African American history classes in Baltimore with him in 12th grade. The man was a genius with an amazing memory for names, facts, and ideas. The main thing he taught me was to think for myself and to make informed decisions.
 
At the top of my list was Mr Diblasi, for high school electronics and video production class. For the computer section of the semester, he would write simple programs in the basic language up on the board. I would spot the errors and tell him how to fix them.

Eventually, he admitted that I was beyond his abilities. He gave me copy of the book he was using to teach the class. I learned everything in that book.

Later, Diblasi, my older brother and I formed a partnership. We sold game software for the Commodore Pet and Vic 20 computers. We made a lot of money at the time.
 
There were definitely a few teachers I remember along the way who really inspired me. I was perpetually bored in school and never really tried to excel. Many teachers didn't care since I wasn't disruptive and just let me coast though their class. Some recognized where I was took the time to motivate me and even encouraged me to take assignments in different directions that interested me.

Somewhat related: I wound up working at a few local businesses during high school and when I was going to college. Often the teachers who everyone thought were the 'cool' teachers were biggest assholes outside of the classroom. The one guy from Jr High that everyone thought was a total ball buster turned out to be incredibly kind and remembered me, correctly, as the slacker kid he had to push to care about his class and was really stoked to hear how well I was doing in college at the time.
 
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Peen Simmons said:
I was also fairly conscientious/self-directed and didn’t need a ton of prodding/motivation. As a result I didn’t get a lot of inspirational effort. Probably the sort of student who wasn’t super fun to teach; lots of “potential” but kinda on my own trip and not really inclined to buy into stuff that wasn’t my idea.
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I was kinda opposite but still got to hear about my potential all the time too.
I'd do assignments minutes before class, rarely studied for tests and still managed to pull decent grades out of my ass. I'd zone out in class most of the time, but never became a distraction or disruptive, so most teachers will just let you slide on through. Didn't even really figure out how to effectively study until I got to college.
 
Lerxst said:
There were definitely a few teachers I remember along the way who really inspired me. I was perpetually bored in school and never really tried to excel. Many teachers didn't care since I wasn't disruptive and just let me coast though their class. Some recognized where I was took the time to motivate me and even encouraged me to take assignments in different directions that interested me.

Somewhat related: I wound up working at a few local businesses during high school and when I was going to college. Often the teachers who everyone thought were the 'cool' teachers were biggest assholes outside of the classroom. The one guy from Jr High that everyone thought was a total ball buster turned out to be incredibly kind and remembered me, correctly, as the slacker kid he had to push to care about his class and was really stoked to hear how well I was doing in college at the time.
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Ugh the "cool" teacher. I wouldn't always equate them to being assholes IRL but let's be honest:

- they're either actually operating on the same social level as a bunch of a teenagers.

Or

- an adult trying hard to get kudos and validation from a bunch of teenagers.

Both are a bit pathetic.
 
Mr. Schmidt, junior high science teacher
Mr. Vanetta, high school english teacher (I went into college thinking I was going to be an english major because he was so good and my high school science teachers were so bad)
Lerxst said:
I was kinda opposite but still got to hear about my potential all the time too.
I'd do assignments minutes before class, rarely studied for tests and still managed to pull decent grades out of my ass. I'd zone out in class most of the time, but never became a distraction or disruptive, so most teachers will just let you slide on through. Didn't even really figure out how to effectively study until I got to college.
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This was me pretty much to a T as well. Not knowing how to study until college is something I talk about in (college) classes all the time, it's interesting in that it occurs all across the "academically gifted" spectrum. A stand alone first year class in study techniques/habits would be a very helpful thing 'round these parts.
 
Mr. Blanchard taught U.S. Government while teaching us to think independently using critical analysis.
 
yabba said:
Mr. Schmidt, junior high science teacher
Mr. Vanetta, high school english teacher (I went into college thinking I was going to be an english major because he was so good and my high school science teachers were so bad)

This was me pretty much to a T as well. Not knowing how to study until college is something I talk about in (college) classes all the time, it's interesting in that it occurs all across the "academically gifted" spectrum. A stand alone first year class in study techniques/habits would be a very helpful thing 'round these parts.
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I got an MA and never learned how to study. I mean, I know how to drill for proficiency on tasks and how to prepare for important stuff, but I’ve never really “studied” or needed to. I mean, I went into academic fields where exams weren’t really the thing anyway so…
 
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