Our district is having a Twitter challenge this month, and today we were challenged to name someone who had made a difference for us. I named my wife Kristin, because as a Special Education teacher, she demonstrates kindness and compassion with her students, their parents, and her fellow educators. Her attitude is contagious, and aside from being an awesome wife and mother, she's an awesome teacher. When I wanted to become a teacher, she was the kind of teacher I wanted to be.
But she is not the only educator who matters to me. A couple years ago, I ended my first year of teaching by writing a blog called It Takes A Team. In it, I talked about how in my first year, it was the collective work of my fellow faculty and the support of my administration that made the year successful for our school and for me.
As I read the challenge, and confounded by the 140 characters, I knew I could not do the challenge justice in a tweet. So, here are some of the educators who made/make a difference to me.
My Mom
She taught at pretty much all levels of education, but spent most of her time as an elementary PE teacher. She was mine, and yes, I still called her Mrs. Lehrmann. She strove to find ways for all students to be successful in her class, even those lacking in the physical prowess. That said, she also challenged the students, and years later, they still fondly remember and sometimes post it to Social Media how much they loved our Mickey Mousercize warm-ups each day.
My Dad
After retiring from the Highway Department, my Dad worked at a Junior High as an Instructional Aide in what is now called an Adaptive Behavior class. He had some kids that everyone else had written off, but he somehow connected with them. When he passed away unexpectedly, these kids who had shunned much of their other teachers and fellow students came to his funeral. He reached those that others could not. This became a goal for my life.
My Uncle
Yeah, teaching is in the blood. My Uncle Darrell, like me, came to teaching after a career in another field. He went on to coach the softball team at my High School to great success. He retired from coaching a couple years ago and teaching this past year. But he still keeps the grounds of the softball field that bears his name. It bears his name not because he won a lot of games, it bears his name because he won a lot of hearts. His students and players and fellow educators love, respect and admire his character and work ethic. I'll never have a field named after me, maybe a Speech team's podium or something, but he's an example to me.
Jo Ellen Dunlap
My Kindergarten teacher knew I loved Davy Crockett, so she wrote a Kindergarten graduation play for me to play him. She taught me at 6 that finding a student's passion and stoking it, no matter how young they are, has lasting effect.
Jack Nims
My AP English teacher gave me my first failing major grade. And in doing so, he taught me its not the grade that matters, its the journey and the questions I had to ask that matter. He made me think, and to this day, the questions I ask my students are a little Nimsonian.
Casey Akin, Cindy Knapek and Caleb Phillips
I've worked with folks for the last year on Student Council. They love their students, and want to see them succeed not just in the projects they plan today, but the people and citizens they will be tomorrow. We work hard, and we laugh just as hard. It is a lot of long hours we spent/spend together, and they are friends and inspirations.
Aaron Hogan and Jeremy Stewart
Aaron I have known for a couple years now, and Jeremy I've never met outside of Twitter. But these guys have a vision for College Station ISD to join together on Tuesday nights to Twitter chat about all manner of educational topics. They have inspired me to engage in class Twitter chats (that blog is STILL coming, I promise), and to challenge my fellow educators to join up. They have helped to bring our district closer together digitally, and by extension, personally.
Chris KovacsChris was one of the teachers who interviewed me for my current position. He kinda scared me. I observed him teaching after hearing LOTS of cool talk, and he intimidated me with his skills. Somewhere along the way, we ended up getting lunch. Now we are staff development day lunch buddies. I've learned a lot from his educational strategies and style, even if he thinks its cool to use a SWIVL training session I was conducting as a chance to call me out as a Zombie while he is practicing with the tech tool. :)
Heather Strawn
My co-conspirator in all things Speech and Debate. Aside from making sure our team has their hair properly combed and clothes proper for competition, she challenges our students to "go there" in their competitions. She pushes them to their best, and models for them good sportsmanship and integrity. She helps students find their voice with ease.
Mike Martindale, Justin Grimes, Tiffany Parkerson, Julia Mishler, Matthew Quick, Kim Rodgers, Laura Richter, Marla Ramirez
I promise I am not trying to kiss up to these guys- my current (and some former) principals/APs.
They trusted me. As a new instructional aide and then teacher, they allowed me room to grow, and to take on challenges that I was willing to try. They are not just "bosses," they are educational motivators and creative risk takers. Those attitudes inspire me to strive for those roles, and I see in our campus today, and the campus I started at, that the teachers they work with are inspired, too. They have consistently given me chances to grow as a teacher and a leader, and been voices of encouragement all along the way.
If you are a teacher, I hope you've got someone- or lots of someone's- who inspire you, challenge you, and make you grow and laugh at the same time. I am who I am because of these people, and I hope that I can inspire them in equal measure to what they have given to me.
So if you've got an educator whose made a difference in your life, let them know!
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