When my students ask me what I love about teaching, I always answer the same way – I get to have a small influence on the lives of every student in my class. As a teacher educator, my goal is equip my soon-to-be teachers with some knowledge of literacy that they will be able to pass on down to their future students. So let’s say my 100 or so preservice teachers each year have a future class of 20 students of their own. My influence has reached over 2000 students during the year that they are teachers! My mind is boggled when I think about how many students I have had over the past 30 years and how many lives each one of those students has touched with just a kernel of what they learned from my courses!
I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when a former student of mine sent me photos (see below) of her adorable son with a book she credits to my reading about 13 years ago in our Teaching Reading class at Saginaw Valley State University. She messaged me saying that she loved this book when I read it in class, and she knew one day she wanted to read it to her own children. I laughed at the pictures and then tears came to my eyes. The impact of my little kernel of read alouds has been passed on down to another generation! This message along with these pictures made me start to reflect on teachers in my past that had an influence on my literacy world.
So in a very small way, I want to thank the following teachers who ignited the fire in me for my love of literacy:
Sharon Swain (my cousin), my first grade reading teacher. She pushed me to read those BIG first grade words when I was unsure of myself.
Mrs. Kerns, my second grade teacher. She placed in my hand Little House in the Big Woods. I couldn’t get enough of Laura, Mary, and Pa after that!
Mrs. Crawford, my third grade teacher. I must have been the teacher’s pet since she allowed me to read a book to the class during Read Aloud time on numerous occasions.
Mrs. Bonner, my fourth grade teacher. It was in her class that I fell in love with the Boxcar Children, Mrs. Piggle Wiggles, and Mr. Popper’s Penguins.
Mrs. McVitti, my fifth grade teacher. I will never forget the day she handed me How to Eat Fried Worms. I couldn’t put it down!
These names are just the tip of the iceberg of those who have influenced me. As teachers of literacy, we will never know the extent of our influence on the lives of readers, but one thing is for certain. Our unknown influence reaches far beyond what we can ever imagine.
Who are the people who have influenced your literacy world?
