My Background in Education Before College

I got to thinking that these reflections would have more meaning with some context so I decided to do a series on my background.

Through first grade to high school graduation you could say that I was a low average student and a bit above average pain in the neck.  I didn't have any serious problems beyond undiagnosed mild dyslexia and a desire to learn what interested me, as opposed to what the school system wanted to teach me.  And a very serious lack of respect for people who are more interested in following rules than common sense.  Let's just say my high school principal was relieved to see me graduate.  But all in all, every other teacher or so seemed to figure out how to get me interested before trying to teach me or when they saw me going off in a tangent encouraged and supported me.  They made me a better teacher.  Miss Simes, one room school - grade 3, taught me that care, encouragement, & comic books can overcome reading problems.  Mr. Taylor, Jr. High librarian, showed me that I could love reading the biggest & hardest book if I was interested enough and read for understanding and not detail.  Mr. Burr, high school history, taught me that cause & effect is far more useful & interesting than names & dates.  Mr. Stevens, chemistry, for letting me discovery that I could be an independent learner and for taking a risk (letting me do experiments before & after school unsupervised - he did pre-approved them first) so a a student could soar.  And of course Mrs. Vot, high school English, for showing that the teacher of your most hated subject could also be your biggest cheerleader.

Saying Thank You #1

It is easy to overlook the importance of going out of your way to say "Thank you." I'm thinking about this because an adult upgrading student of mine called just to talk. We hadn't talked since I moved to a new job 34-35 years ago. She went on to become a teacher's aid. One good thing about being in adult education is that the students tend to remember you and do come back to tell you how they are doing. And how you changed their lives.


Back in my days as a data processing instructor, I had a retail marketing student in my Introduction to Data Processing class. She had straight "A"s since kindergarten until I gave her her first "B". [The fact that she was the daughter-in-law-to-be of my wife's best friend helped insure that I knew all the facts.] As she later admitted, she couldn't see any use in learning to design a database for a marketer.


Every year following her graduation until I moved on to a new job she returned to my class to tell my students about her first retail job: which included designing an inventory database. She said that it was her way of saying thank you for forcing her to learn something she didn't want to learn.

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I have been lucky because I've had a lot of students make contact with me after graduation. I think that I will share more of these; not because I think that I'm a great teacher, I'm not (or maybe I think most teachers are great teachers) but to encourage other teachers who don't teach adults.

Why This Blog

The function of this blog is to give a place to record random thoughts about my life in general and as a teacher, and on the future of a 70+ year old man.