I understand what you are saying.
5 years after I left teaching I received a phone call…
It was from the mother of one of my old students. She got my mother by digging through school records…found my parents phone (as next of kin) and called them to get my number. She proceeded to tell me how great her son was doing…graduated from college 4.0 GPA and now in a graduate program for Computer Science at some Ivy League place.
She then said it was because of me. She said her son was depressed, low self esteem, horrible grades, experimenting with drugs and going down fast. She said it was only because of ME that he changed. Imagine how that makes you feel…it makes your whole day…heck your whole life.
I remember the kid. He wanted to take programming though he wasn’t taking math and didn’t have the prereqs. I waved him in. I remember he would stick around after school and talk about programming…how to do this, how to do that etc. Nice kid. Had no idea that I was doing what he needed (if the mother is right)
I also received a letter from another former student doing well in law school. I was teaching college at the time (taught 3 years H.S. 6 years college) She said she was a music major and taking a math class from me. One day before class. she and her friend were talking about what they would do after graduation and were saying there wasn’t anything they could do but teach.
She said I was in the room writing on the board and I put my chalk down and proceeded to enthusiastically berate them for not being proud of their major. I then proceeded to tell them that a music degree was great for getting into medical school or law school so long as they take the required courses (and the requireds are less than you think) and do well on the standardized tests. She said the next day I brought in example tests from the LCAT to show them that they could do well on it.
I don’t remember doing this…but it sounds like me.
Problem is I found out about these things AFTER I left teaching. Probably wouldn’t have mattered. I’m no saint. I left teaching primarily for financial reasons and probably would still have left.
However it is really nice to hear.
If a teacher did you good several years ago…contact them and let them know. It could really make a difference.
