Rough Draft Paper #2

Josie Baxter
Dr. Sonia Begert
English 101 Paper #2
February 28, 2013

    Growing up in public school gave me a chance to experience many different types of teachers. You would think that in elementary school, your teachers wouldn't be as impressionable as middle and high school, but for me, elementary school was were I met the teacher that I would once inspire to be. When I think back on teachers I had growing up, the ones I remember most are the ones that either inspired me to become a great teacher or ones that made me determined to become a better teacher then they were to me. "A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron." -Horace Mann. A teachers should be an inspirational mentor who students can remember, admire and learn a great deal from.
     I was 9 years old, scraggly and only weighed 40 pounds when I was first diagnosed with Type I Juvenile Diabetes. I had been sick for many weeks. Mrs. Shockley was my teacher at the time. I remember enjoying having Mrs. Shockley as my teacher. She visited the hospital I was in every day! And everyday that she came, she would bring me little notes written by my fellow classmates that encouraged me to get well but you could tell it was also a way for them to work on their vocabulary. I would get fun notes that would read "Get well soon. I want to go fishing this summer. Love, Alex." Not only did Mrs. Shockley bring sweet notes to the hospital, but would bring a basket of fruit. She would have me count each fruit every day to help me learn my mathematics. She would ask questions like "What's 3 Apples times 5 Apples" and quiz me on my multiplications.  Not only did she encourage me, but also helped me remember that even though I was going through a tough life lesson, I was still a kid, and I still deserved to learn new things.
     As time went on, I became more energized and healthy and was ready to start back school. My first day back to third grade as a Diabetic was difficult to say the least. Mrs. Shockley welcomed her classroom with open arms. Though I hadn't been to school in over 3 weeks, I came in ready to keep learning. Mrs. Shockley encouraged me to count my fruits and vegetables at lunch time so that I would know exactly how many carbohydrates I was eating. She encourage my classmates to help me add up all my carbs then divide it by my carb to unit ratio to learn how much insulin I should take. Including my peers in the learning curve helped me become comfortable with this horrible disease. I admired everything about Mrs. Shockley. She helped me build confidence. She helped me become secure in who I had become. Mrs. Shockley taught me how to embrace my new self.
     As years passed, I still remember Mrs. Shockley. I still remember her smile and her encouraging words. She not only taught me the fundamentals of multiplication, spelling and handwriting, but she also taught me how to embrace who I was. She touched not only myself, but all my classmates this way. She would individually make a game plan with parents to help their child get the best experience they could. She would attend any and all school athlete programs just to cheer on one student. Mrs. Shockley didn't just teach what the school administration required her to teach but she also helped students such as myself how to learn a horrible life situation into a great teaching lesson.
     Coach Murray was the complete opposite of Mrs. Shockley. I was in the 10th grade when I had him as a teacher. As any normal 16 year old felt about school, I wasn't really interested to be there. However, to meet a teacher that had that same kind of attitude towards school, sort of repulsed me. This might come off as hypercritical, but I believe if one chooses to become a teacher then they should embrace it and enjoy teaching. Coach Murray was always eager to get out of class. He always seemed to be the last person in the door and the first person out of the door once the bell rang. Coach Murray would come to class prop his feet up on the desk and give you chapters to read. If you had a questions about the subject he would refer you to the book instead of helping a student figure out the problem or actually teach. Some students would say he gave easy A's. I left World History with an A, however, to this day, I still don't know crap about World History.
     While having Coach Murray as a teacher, I noticed that his passion was for coaching NOT teaching. He always seemed to have something negative about teaching World History. He made it known that our school didn't have a World History teacher, so the administration asked him to teach the class and he agreed. Not because he wanted to, but because he knew it needed to be done. Whenever we had an athlete in the class he would focus his attention on them and joke about the past or upcoming games that were going on. I learned from Coach Murray that as a teacher, I would want to stand up for my kids. If i saw a need where a good teacher was wanted, I would try and help, so that my future students wouldn't have to suffer the way we had to suffer with Coach.
     There are many types of teachers. I have had many great teacher and many self-absorbed jerks of a teacher. Mrs. Shockley showed me how great a teacher can be. She inspired me to want to be the best and to be compassionate and understanding. She by far would go down in my book as an ideal teacher and woman. I can't really say that Coach Murray didn't' inspire me. To be honest, teachers like him are what did inspire me to become a teacher. I hated the fact that there were teachers like him out there and I wanted to make sure that I could at least contribute to being one of those ideal teachers that inspired their students, encouraged their students and helped make their students feel appreciated and important.
   

Works Cited

 Lisa. "21 Inspirational Teaching Quotes." 10 February 2012 

     <http://blog.simplek12.com/education/21-inspirational-teacher-quotes/>