I’m taking part in the weekly Slice of Life Challenge sponsored by Ruth and Stacey over at Two Writing Teachers, where teachers write and share each Tuesday. Join in yourself or head over to check out what’s happening with other slicers. If you’re taking part in the SOL, leave a link to your post. I’d love to read it.

I was going to write this post last week for Teacher Appreciation Week, but got distracted by a canoe trip.  Even though the official week has come and gone, I still want to take time to thank the teachers who made a difference for me.  This list is by no means complete, but these teachers helped shape me into who I am today.

• Miss Lucas, Elvie Street School, Wilson, NC:  I can still remember the excitement I felt the first day of 6th grade language arts.  This smartly dressed (suits and heels) teacher was going to teach us reading and writing in ways that made my imagination catch fire.  I still remember the book reports I had to do for class.  It wasn’t enough to tell about the book.  We had to be creative–bring in props, make a poster, dress as a character.
• Miss Thorne, Fike High School, Wilson, NC:  My sophomore year was a hard one for me.  I read Sweet Valley High novels through my three afternoon classes (biology, geometry, and world history) and didn’t smile much.  But when I did smile in English class, Miss Thorne always made a big deal of it.  She encouraged my writing and even read my very first submission to a Guideposts writing contest.  (I still haven’t won yet, but I’m still writing and submitting stories.)  Anytime we had a grammar and punctuation question, she showed us how diagramming the sentence could help us figure it out.
• Miss Boykin, Fike High School, Wilson, NC:  She pushed my to excel and gave me a foundation in grammar that still serves me today.  Careless mistakes cost in her English class–every four mistakes cost a letter grade.  It didn’t matter if my pencil went too fast to make a dark enough period.  If it didn’t show up, my reader couldn’t read my mind for what I meant to do.  I hated doing the corrections for every essay where I had to not only correct any errors, but also copy the rule from the grammar book that explained the correction.  I can still quote those rules and use them.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but she prepared me thoroughly for college and beyond.
• Dr. Knight, Meredith College, Raleigh, NC:  I first met Dr. Knight during freshman orientation because she was my freshman academic advisor.  After my parents met her, they hoped I didn’t have to have her for class, but I did.  Yes, I was reduced to tears a few times because I didn’t earn the A’s I was used to.  Yes, I worked harder for her classes than for any other (Chaucer and Romantic Poetry).  Yes, I was terrified to walk into her class unprepared.  Yes, the students in our Chaucer class were the only ones to meet when the rest of campus shut down during a snow storm..  Yes, we struggled through our discussion of Chaucer for the entire 50 minutes.  Yes, I learned more from her than any other teacher.  Even after I left her classes, she looked me up to compliment me on a job well done and to send birthday cards for years after I graduated.  PS – I still have the paper I wrote for her that finally earned an A.
• Dr. Gilbert, Meredith College, Raleigh, NC:  I had the honor of either being a student in or working as a student assistant for Dr. Gilbert most of my semesters at Meredith.  Her class discussions were exhilarating, even if my notes from them were impossible to follow.  She encouraged me to apply to work at the Writing Center (which I did and loved) and to follow my dreams.  She encouraged to speak my mind and gave the the confidence to defend my opinions.

Thank you to these, and all my other teachers, who have shared their knowledge, encouraged my passions, and inspired me to follow in their footsteps.  I hope I can pass on some of what you gave me to my students.