High School, low school


My senior year was filled with many highs and lows. I loved the idea of being an adult yet dreaded the ideologies that were associated with it. I had a few teachers that were instrumental in helping me feel more comfortable about the future and some that showed me just how ill equipped I was. My favorite was English. I loved writing and although no one thought our teacher was cool, I did. He encouraged me to write and to write with pride and to take my writing seriously, he is the reason I majored in journalism, well my first of many majors anyway. He challenged me to think outside of the box and realize there was more to life than just getting by, that I could excel at anything, even those things I had no idea existed. 
I can honestly say I began hating, yes I know that is a very strong word yet, nothing else describes the relationship I have with math as accurately as the word hate. In 9th grade I had a teacher, and by all accounts she seemed nice enough, but I was having a really hard time and she did not help me. As a matter of fact she failed me, and because Murphy's Law is so, well Murphy's Law I had her class for the 2nd time as well. The intimate details fail me but, I remember feeling like her thinking was that I should have known how to do Algebra. I'd raise my hand to ask a question and she'd provide a generic answer. I'd make a bad grade and she would find a way publicize it. I had to have the class to graduate so in my senior year, last part of the semester, I ended up taking Algebra in night school just so that I could pass.
I can undoubtedly say that my teaching style will be more of a nurturing and encouraging nature. I would never want a student to feel belittled or ignored in my classroom. I never want the burden having a student form a negative opinion of a subject because of my behavior. With my own kids, that happen to love math, I had to smile and say how happy I was that numbers made them so happy, and although words are my superpower, I'm careful to not show my bias. I realize how large of an influence teachers have, and I will work to always be a positive influence, despite my experiences.

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