A Letter to Former Teachers

I have spent most of my week home for spring break hanging out at my high school and doing some observation hours. This week made it all so real to me that in a little over two years, I’ll be teaching on my own, in my own classroom, with my own students. It still seems so surreal that all I’ve ever dreamed of is so close to becoming a reality. This realization is what prompted me to write this blog post. I want to take a few minutes to thank all of my past teachers who lead me to where I am today.

Mom,

Thanks for being so much more than my mom. Thanks for showing me what a great teacher looks like. More than anything, thanks for letting me see that teaching is so much more than Monday through Friday, 8-3, with holidays and summers off. Thanks for letting me see firsthand all of the hard work that goes into teaching, behind the scenes. From countless hours of doing lesson plans, to grading papers, to professional development days and staff meetings. Thanks for instilling in me a love for teaching and for encouraging me to teach since I was young and “teaching” my stuffed animals, baby dolls and Barbies. I always thought I would never actually teach, just because you were a teacher. But now, there’s nothing else that I could imagine myself doing. Not to mention, I will always have someone that I can run to anytime I need help or need to vent about things only teachers will understand. Oh, and thanks for passing down your addiction to buying pens and being ecstatic about buying, or even looking at, school supplies! I love you to the moon and back!

Ms. Rowe,

I can’t believe it’s been ten years since I was in your class! Thanks for having such an impact on my life. Thanks for treating me more like your daughter than your student. Thanks for being so welcoming to me when I was a nervous wreck about starting a new school. Thanks for always encouraging me and for allowing me to be creative in almost everything I did in your class. Your class was where I fell in love with special education. Even though I didn’t know I wanted to teach special education until I was in high school, when I think about it now, it all leads back to my fourth grade year. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to work with Jon and form such a great friendship with him, and for encouraging me, without words, to spend my life working in special education. To this day, I can’t say how grateful I am to have had you as my fourth grade teacher!

Mrs. Houck,

Thanks for always pushing me to do better than what I thought was my best. Thanks for taking time to invest in me and to genuinely show that you cared. Thanks for preparing me so much for my college English classes and for teaching me how to write a well-written paper. That has really paid off over the past two years. Thanks for always welcoming me to your classroom, whether it was senior year when you “adopted me” into your advisory, or now when I come home to visit and just want to hang out and catch up. I hope that one day I can influence my students in the way that you’ve influenced me over the past several years.

Mrs. Dickens,

When I was a peer tutor in your class my senior year, I realized that teaching special education was where God was calling me. I’d ran from that thought for a while, but I immediately fell in love with the kids in your class and I couldn’t imagine spending my life any other way. Since then, I’ve made it a point to come see you every time I’m home, and I fall more in love with special ed every time I’m there. Thank you for being such an inspiration and role model to me. Thanks for always being willing to answer my millions of questions. Thanks for letting me rant about how much I already dislike writing IEPs and lesson plans. Thanks for being more than just a teacher that let me fill up my senior schedule by hanging out in your class. Thanks for being so much more than just a teacher. Thanks for being my mentor as I am walking through all of my special ed classes. Thanks for becoming a friend and for allowing me to help you in your classroom and outside of the classroom with your boys. I look forward to the day, God willing, that we will be teaching together.

Many other teachers impacted my life in huge and lasting ways, but these teachers are ones that come to mind when I think about “favorite teachers.” Thank you to each and every teacher that has played a part in my life and that has made me into the person that I am to be. I hope to one day be half the teacher that each of you were to me.