Holiday Surprises
After attending my county's Teacher Leader Retreat this past August, I posted this post on my Facebook page:
For all of the teachers who inspire me. Here is to an awesome first day tomorrow and rest of the year.
Mrs. D. Gregory Gann, Mrs. H. Spence, Mrs. L. Swenson, Mr. M. Lentz, Ms. L. Brewer, Mrs. C. Price, Ms. Harrison, Mrs. S. Seymore, Ms. Brannigan, Mrs. L. Walker, Mrs. Landry, Ms. Parzialle, Mrs. Cornish, Sheila Jamison-Schwartz, Lisa Broadie Smith, Kris Hogg Vecchione, Kelly Hylton Woody, Emily Angell, Mrs. North, Salem Rainey Metzger, Carolyn Torgerson Hiatt, Ericka NC Conyers, MJ Powell, Mandy Leigh, Jeri Brown, Marva Pittman, Jennie Jones, Amber Fitts...and many more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwlhUcSGqgs
It was inspired by one of our keynote speakers, Cindi Rigsbee, North Carolina Teacher of the Year and author of "Finding Mrs. Warnecke...The Difference Teachers Make." Her book and speech spoke about her journey as a teacher and her journey to find the teacher who had the greatest impact on her life.
As a result of this I began to reflect on those teachers who had made a difference in my life. The ones I thought about often as I worked with the students in my classroom. I would often tell my husband that I would like buy those teachers who made a difference a copy of Cindi's book and send it to them.
That didn't happen, but I did write Christmas cards/letters to my 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th grade teachers. To my pleasant surprise I received responses from three of the four teachers! In the letters I mentioned hearing Cindy speak and I spoke a lot about how they had made a difference in my life and I thanked them for that. What was really interesting was that all three of the responses sounded very similar and all three teachers were pleasantly surprised to hear from me.
After the holiday bustle died down, one evening I was enjoying on of my favorite pastimes of Googling and I stumbled upon Cindi Rigsbee's blog. Turns out,one of the teachers whom I had written a letter had written a letter to Cindi after receiving mine. I've attached the link below.
http://cindirigsbee.com/a-christmas-tree-miracle/
I tell my mom and husband all the time that I had the best experience at College Park Elementary as a student. I had the best teachers and blossomed as a student, leader, and person. Every teacher made learning fun and made me want to be the same type of teacher for my students.
To make a long story short, take the time to thank those teachers who made a difference in your life. I was surprised to read in some of my letters that they hadn't heard that often from former students. Where would we be with our teachers?
I teach. What's your superpower?
Mrs. D. Gregory Gann, Mrs. H. Spence, Mrs. L. Swenson, Mr. M. Lentz, Ms. L. Brewer, Mrs. C. Price, Ms. Harrison, Mrs. S. Seymore, Ms. Brannigan, Mrs. L. Walker, Mrs. Landry, Ms. Parzialle, Mrs. Cornish, Sheila Jamison-Schwartz, Lisa Broadie Smith, Kris Hogg Vecchione, Kelly Hylton Woody, Emily Angell, Mrs. North, Salem Rainey Metzger, Carolyn Torgerson Hiatt, Ericka NC Conyers, MJ Powell, Mandy Leigh, Jeri Brown, Marva Pittman, Jennie Jones, Amber Fitts...and many more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwlhUcSGqgs
It was inspired by one of our keynote speakers, Cindi Rigsbee, North Carolina Teacher of the Year and author of "Finding Mrs. Warnecke...The Difference Teachers Make." Her book and speech spoke about her journey as a teacher and her journey to find the teacher who had the greatest impact on her life.
That didn't happen, but I did write Christmas cards/letters to my 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th grade teachers. To my pleasant surprise I received responses from three of the four teachers! In the letters I mentioned hearing Cindy speak and I spoke a lot about how they had made a difference in my life and I thanked them for that. What was really interesting was that all three of the responses sounded very similar and all three teachers were pleasantly surprised to hear from me.
After the holiday bustle died down, one evening I was enjoying on of my favorite pastimes of Googling and I stumbled upon Cindi Rigsbee's blog. Turns out,one of the teachers whom I had written a letter had written a letter to Cindi after receiving mine. I've attached the link below.
http://cindirigsbee.com/a-christmas-tree-miracle/
I tell my mom and husband all the time that I had the best experience at College Park Elementary as a student. I had the best teachers and blossomed as a student, leader, and person. Every teacher made learning fun and made me want to be the same type of teacher for my students.
To make a long story short, take the time to thank those teachers who made a difference in your life. I was surprised to read in some of my letters that they hadn't heard that often from former students. Where would we be with our teachers?
I teach. What's your superpower?
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