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Discuss a teacher who had a positive influence on your life. What did he/she do that was influential for you?
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I had a teacher when I was in high school that encouraged me all the time
and was appreciative to my work. He was very caring and passionate about his teaching.
He was an inspiration for me. Many times he told me that with my personality and perseverance
of never giving up I would make a good teacher. He made a difference in my life, today I am a teacher
because his example and the work of God Through him. -
Many of my teachers cared about how I performed in school always helping me to do the best that I could as school at times was a struggle for me. This impacted me as I seek to care for each student not just in how they are performing in my course but also caring about them as a person.
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In high school, I had an English teacher named Mrs. Sands who positively influenced me. I remember having to write an opinion paper in which I expressed that I felt plastic surgery was acceptable if someone was unhappy with their looks. Mrs. Sands saw through my struggle and instead of instantly disagreeing with me and telling me that I was wrong for believing so, she began encouraging me. Not in a superficial way either. She gave me authentic compliments about my smile and eyes and personality. I would have known right away if she was not being sincere. She also simply looked me in the eyes one day and said, “You can do it”. I was between an A and B grade at the end of the school year with one last paper to write. Because she had been authentic with me previously, I believed her and succeeded.
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There were two influential teachers in my life, unfortunately they didn’t come into my life until my senior year. My senior year was my only year at a private school, except for college. I never passed pre-algebra, so I was taking it my senior year. I hated math. I walked into the course knowing that I was going to fail. My teacher, Mr. Hobart, encouraged me everyday building up my confidence that I could do it. By 2nd semester, I was helping the other students, and I passed the course with 105%. The other teacher, at the same private school, was my English teacher, Mrs. Horning. She loved me, and she loved English. She made everything make sense and created a love of English in me. She is the reason that I am an English teacher.
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My fourth grade teacher approached learning with an excitement I didn’t notice in my earlier teachers. He balanced instructing 5th grade in the afternoon as well and I remembered the responsibility of doing my own work without teacher guidance. He gave quality feedback, celebrated our victories, and allowed us creative space to explored and grow. The activities and adventures long outlasted other academic memories and inspired how I thought about learning and school for years to come.