Archive for the ‘Inspirational Teachers’ Category

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Teacher Does Lesson Plans While Giving Birth

May 3, 2017

I dislike lesson plans immensely. I understand the value of it, yet it remains one of my least favourite aspects of the job. This teacher wins the medal for completing hers at a time when most would have it as the last thing on their mind:

 

Any woman who gives birth deserves a medal, all the chocolate in the world and a whole heap of praise, but a mother from Texas has truly proved that she’s superwoman – by doing her lesson planning while in labor.

Jennifer Pope, who gave birth to a baby girl last month, is the internet’s new favourite person after a picture of her working hard in the hospital ward was uploaded to social media. Photographer Andrea McDonald caught the candid picture of Pope working from her bed, which she then uploaded to Facebook. She captioned the snap:

“No, she is not doing her taxes. Those papers would be her lesson plans her husband is about to go drop off with her sub in the parking lot.

“Also, next week is Teacher Appreciation Week here in Texas. Spoil them rotten because even in labor, they care. No lie, she gave birth less than an hour later.

“This post is about showing the dedication of a teacher (I was one myself for many years). Seriously, be kind or scroll down.”

Pope, who has worked as a teacher for over 10 years and has three older children, told Huffington Post that she wants her picture to inspire other women to know that they can be parents and have careers.

“Being a working mom is hard ― like really hard,” said Pope. “But, it’s also so rewarding and fulfilling. I can’t imagine myself in any other profession.”

She added that she hopes the picture will help illustrate teachers’ dedication to their job and their students: “To many ― perhaps all ― of us, this is so much more than a job. It’s an all-encompassing passion.”

 

Click on the link to read The Letter that Brought a Teacher to Tears

Click on the link to read Students Care About Caring Teachers

Click on the link to read The Inspiring Things Teachers Often Do for Their Students

Click on the link to read Teacher Pens Moving Letter to Autistic Student

Click on the link to read Music Teacher Makes History at the Superbowl

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The Letter that Brought a Teacher to Tears

April 27, 2017

It’s moments like these that gives us perspective for the hard times:

 

Markus left the incredibly heartwarming note on his teacher, Mr. KJ’s desk, with the proud mentor then deciding to share it on Facebook group ‘Love What Matters’.

Mr. J was obviously taken aback by the compliments in the letter and shared it with the world.

“So I walked in the classroom and found this letter on the desk that one of my kids wrote me and…I tried so hard not to tear up,” he wrote online.

 

Click on the link to read Students Care About Caring Teachers

Click on the link to read The Inspiring Things Teachers Often Do for Their Students

Click on the link to read Teacher Pens Moving Letter to Autistic Student

Click on the link to read Music Teacher Makes History at the Superbowl

Click on the link to read A Profession that Truly Cares

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Students Care About Caring Teachers

September 20, 2016

 

If you detach yourselves emotionally from your students, like some experts maintain, you cannot expect to have your students’ respect.

Above is the touching tribute that a terminally ill teacher received before his untimely death. Such a tribute could never have occurred if the teacher had distanced himself emotionally from his students.

It is our duty to care about our students. Not in an inappropriate way of course, but rather in a manner which shows them that we care more about their future and wellbeing than a standardised test score or even a quiet classroom.

 

Click on the link to read The Inspiring Things Teachers Often Do for Their Students

Click on the link to read Teacher Pens Moving Letter to Autistic Student

Click on the link to read Music Teacher Makes History at the Superbowl

Click on the link to read A Profession that Truly Cares

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The Inspiring Things Teachers Often Do for Their Students

August 7, 2016

I am so happy that the press ran with this story. All the negative publicity that follows teachers around prevents the public from fully appreciating the many teachers who inspire their students.

 

Click on the link to read Teacher Pens Moving Letter to Autistic Student

Click on the link to read Music Teacher Makes History at the Superbowl

Click on the link to read A Profession that Truly Cares

Click on the link to read Connecting With Your Students is the Key to Teaching Them Effectively

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Teacher Pens Moving Letter to Autistic Student

July 12, 2016

 

teacher-letter-autistic-boy

Above is a letter sent by the teacher of an 11-year old autistic boy and has been shared by the boy’s mother.

It reinforces what all teachers believe: That our students true worth can not be adequately measured by any standardised test or assessment.

Still, for the teacher to go to the trouble to compose this letter and send it to her student is extremely inspiring.

I may start to do the same.

 

Click on the link to read Music Teacher Makes History at the Superbowl

Click on the link to read A Profession that Truly Cares

Click on the link to read Connecting With Your Students is the Key to Teaching Them Effectively

Click on the link to read Teachers can Make a Real Difference!

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Music Teacher Makes History at the Superbowl

February 8, 2016

 

I am not a Lady Gaga devotee, but her rendition of the national anthem was simply sublime. It is interesting to note from a teacher’s perspective, that a music teacher was by her side during that stunning performance:

 

If you are watching the Superbowl Sunday, you will likely see a Westchester music teacher accompanying Lady Gaga as she sings the National Anthem.

Alex Smith, who teaches at Yorktown Heights’ Soundview Preparatory School, will be at the piano with Lady Gaga when game coverage starts at 6:30 p.m., the Journal News said.

Smith can also be heard on Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett’s album, “Cheek to Cheek.”

 

 

Click on the link to read A Profession that Truly Cares

Click on the link to read Connecting With Your Students is the Key to Teaching Them Effectively

Click on the link to read Teachers can Make a Real Difference!

Click on the link to read Meet the College Professor Who Doubles as a Babysitter

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A Profession that Truly Cares

January 28, 2016

 

Yes there are heartless ogres in some classrooms, but the underlying reason most of us choose to become teachers and educators is the urge to protect and nurture the next generation.

And when those principles are put to the test, heroes tend to emerge:

 

An Indianapolis elementary school principal was seen pushing several students out of the way of an oncoming bus before the vehicle fatally struck her, authorities said Tuesday.

Susan Jordan, the principal of Amy Beverland Elementary School on the city’s far northeast side, was killed and two 10-year-old children were hospitalized with serious but non-life-threatening injuries when the bus suddenly lurched forward, authorities said.

Buses were lined up outside the school when the accident happened around 2:45 p.m., Indianapolis Fire Department Capt. Rita Reith said.

“At some point, the stationary bus lurched forward and jumped the curb. The bus was not moving at the time directly before it jumped the curb,” Reith said.

The female bus driver told firefighters she was not sure what caused the bus to accelerate, Reith said in a statement Tuesday evening. The driver also said “in the instant that the accident occurred” she saw Jordan push several students out of the way, according to the statement.

The driver and 25 students on the bus were examined by emergency responders but did not require treatment, Reith said.

Jordan, who had been principal of the school for 22 years, was loved by her staff and the school community, Lawrence Township Schools Superintendent Shawn Smith said at a news conference.

“This is a great example of an educational leader in our state and our city. … Just a phenomenal individual that truly cared about children. This is a tragic situation that we have. This loss is going to ripple across our district of 15,000 students,” Smith said.

The district canceled classes at all of its schools Wednesday and said in a statement that four locations, including a transportation center, would be “open for emotional support to our staff and families.”

Indianapolis Police Commander Chris Bailey said the bus driver, whose name was not immediately released, would be given a blood test, a standard procedure in collisions involving fatalities.

 

Click on the link to read Connecting With Your Students is the Key to Teaching Them Effectively

Click on the link to read Teachers can Make a Real Difference!

Click on the link to read Meet the College Professor Who Doubles as a Babysitter

Click on the link to read I Love Teachers Who Go The Extra Mile

 

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Connecting With Your Students is the Key to Teaching Them Effectively

January 5, 2016

 

 

There is a reason why acclaimed teacher Ron Clark continues to grab headlines teachers rarely get. It’s not just about his energy and passion (although that clearly helps) and it has very little to do with his standardized testing scores (although I’m sure they are really impressive).

It has to do with his ability to connect with his students by taking their interests and passions and giving them a pride of place in his teaching approach. By letting your students know that what is important to them is also important to you, it forces your students to think of you as different to the standard teacher who has seemed on a different wavelength and of a vastly different era. It makes them listen to you more and gives far greater scope for forging the connection necessary for the kind of progress teachers yearn for but often miss out on.

I advise all young teachers to share their passions and at least try and appreciate your students’. It may just be the catalyst for a successful year.

 

 

Click on the link to read Teachers can Make a Real Difference!

Click on the link to read Meet the College Professor Who Doubles as a Babysitter

Click on the link to read I Love Teachers Who Go The Extra Mile

Click on the link to read Meet the Blind Teacher Leading the Way

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Teachers can Make a Real Difference!

December 28, 2015

jack-black-teacher

 

Teaching can be one of the most rewarding professions. Our hard work and sensitivity can be just the tonic to turn potential into success. Just ask Jack Black:

 

Jack Black has revealed it was his teacher who helped him overcome the “crippling” stage fright he suffered in his youth.

And defeating his nerves while at a school for “troubled” children in Los Angeles set Jack on the path to become a successful performer.

The 46-year-old comedian told The Observer Magazine: “I once tried to overcome my stage fright at school by showing up to class really high.

“‘Maybe I’ll discover some new level of performance,’ I thought. However, I just became paranoid, and even more paralysed by fear.

“The moment I managed to beat some of my stage fright demons and thought, ‘This is really what I’m going to do with my life’, was in a school production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle when I was 17.”

Jack was playing the part of an anarchist judge called Azdak when he decided he could no longer do it. But his teacher Scott Weintraub asked him to go to breakfast with him first.

“I agreed and at the diner he told me I’d been brilliant in rehearsals, and no one was going to judge me,” Jack said.

“Something he said gave me the confidence to go ahead. All my terror disappeared, and the joy of performance came back to me.”

Jack added he still suffers from stage fright, especially during live televised events.

He said: “Even when every fibre of your body tells you, ‘This is wrong, this is terrifying, you’re horrible’, you can shut off that noise and just go out there. And good things can happen.”

 

Click on the link to read Meet the College Professor Who Doubles as a Babysitter

Click on the link to read I Love Teachers Who Go The Extra Mile

Click on the link to read Meet the Blind Teacher Leading the Way

Click on the link to read The History Teacher Who Became a Hero

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Meet the College Professor Who Doubles as a Babysitter

December 15, 2015

college-teacher-babysitter

 

The best teachers dutifully go that extra mile:

 

Monica Romero says she needed a “miracle” to finish her final exam. A babysitter had cancelled on her at the last minute, and the single mom had been forced to bring her two kids to class with her.

She left them with a computer and a tablet on a couch out in the hall; but, as Romero told Buzzfeed, she was filled with “anxiety about it because I knew they weren’t going to sit still.”

“To get the test complete, it’s going to take a miracle,” the Army ROTC student at the University of Louisville thought to herself.

That “miracle,” it turned out, would come from an unlikely place: Her college professor — who also became her emergency babysitter. 

In this viral photograph snapped by classmate Victoria Henry, U.S. military history professor Dr. Daniel Krebs is pictured babysitting Romero’s young daughter and son while she finished her exam.

Romero, 28, told Buzzfeed that her 4-year-old son, Marcus, had started banging on the door in an attempt to get her attention mere moments after she started her test.

When she went to placate him, Romero says Dr. Krebs followed her out into the hall.

“I thought he was going to ask me to leave,” she said.

But instead, the professor surprised her with an unexpectedly thoughtful offer.

“Dr. Krebs said, ‘Don’t worry. Go take your test. I’ve got them,’” the mom told ABC News.

 

Click on the link to read I Love Teachers Who Go The Extra Mile

Click on the link to read Meet the Blind Teacher Leading the Way

Click on the link to read The History Teacher Who Became a Hero

Click on the link to read And You Want to Remove This Teacher?

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