I’m sure we’ve all had gifted and talented programs for the intellectually smart students at our school, right? Now, how does it feel when you’re not included in it? I don’t know about you, but I most definitely felt incompetent. Up until my fifth grade of school, I was struggling with schoolwork. With a difficult home situation, I was constantly distracted in school, and it heavily reflected on my grades. And especially because I had friends in the gifted and talented programs, I really felt behind. And lost.
In fifth grade, I had gotten my first “guy” teacher- Mr. A. I’m not sure why it was so significant to me that I had my first guy teacher in elementary school, but it was at the time. The first day of school, I was quite surprised about the classroom’s learning environment compared to my prior teachers’. Besides the fact that he let us choose our own seats, his teaching style was by far the most unique I’d experienced. He would host plays for the entire school, he was completely open to the students proposing ideas for how we should go about our lesson plans, and we always had super-fun projects to accompany our learning. The projects would range from creating Rube Goldberg Machines to planning out egg drop tactics. In this class, I could feel myself getting more comfortable with the idea that learning was, in fact, fun.
I ended up having Mr. A again in my sixth grade year. And this year, I was in the play he hosted as the main character. I remember going up to the front of the class to audition, holding my script, my hand shaking like crazy. Once I was done, I was so proud of myself, I did it! Now that I look back on it, this was a huge step in me discovering that public speaking wasn’t the most terrifying experience to exist on earth. That in itself was a huge step for me, as I was an extremely shy kid. Sixth grade was also the year I got into the gifted and talented program myself. Mr. A introduced my certificate to me, and said he was incredibly proud of me for making it this far. Although I understand that this was simply an elementary school award, the sense of accomplishment and pride I felt in myself was like none other. Mr. A made me feel like I had the potential to do something bigger than I had previously expected myself capable of doing so.
I think what I needed during that point of my life was the kind of teacher Mr. A was. As a young child, I already had my fair share of internal struggles, especially with being able to reach out and connect with my teachers. This is, in fact, a problem that I still slightly have today. Regardless of such, Mr. A made it a strong point to make sure he was strongly connected to each and every one of his students. He wouldn’t discriminate against anyone for being too loud or too quiet, and he wouldn’t look down on us for being children. He was open to every one of our ideas, would support them, and ensure we understood that our ideas were just as valuable as his were.
I remember how once one of my friends in the class brought up the idea of our sixth grade class should teach the history lessons to one another, and Mr. A thought it was a great idea. And so, for a large portion of our history textbook, Mr. A would open up another classroom for us, and we would prepare our own little notes guides and teach our chapter to the entire class. It actually proved to be highly effective; I would consistently get A’s on those history tests.
Mr. A was such an encouraging teacher. His passion for teaching and education was incredibly apparent by the way he cared for each student and paid so much attention to each as their own individual person. He wasn’t just there for the money, or a job, but to encourage each of his students to grow a passion for learning through his unique teaching.
So, to answer the prompt of my article, what IS the impact of a caring teacher on a student? For me, Mr. A was most certainly the spark for my passion of learning, as well as the beginning of my battle to speak up. Because up until this point in my school experience, I felt as if I wasn’t capable of much academic nor personal success. But my teacher cared to look beyond that, beyond how quiet of a student I was, beyond how I didn’t achieve the most perfect grades in my classes, to truly see me as a person and the POTENTIAL this person could be. Mr. A was the catalyst to me seeing my own potential.
As an approaching senior, every time I look back on my early school years, my mind always goes to fifth and sixth grade. I always wonder where I would be if I wasn’t in his class, I genuinely do. I am incredibly grateful that I was able to be a student to this wonderful, passionate teacher.
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