Wednesday, 23 April 2008

Who was the teacher who made the most positive impact on you?

Being a teacher myself (well, almost... I'm almost done student teaching), this is an EXCELLENT QUESTION! I love it. But, it can be an incredibly difficult one to answer. Here are a couple of teachers that made some major positive impacts on me.

1. My junior/senior high school choir teacher. Ms. Sopha single-handedly taught me how to love singing in choir. Though my initial experiences with choir concerts were not ones that I would be proud of or would like to relive (I was lying on the floor, coloring!), she showed me what a joy it is to sing in an ensemble. As I progressed, she continued to cultivate my love to sing and helped convince me of the idea of pursuing a music degree. And now look. I'm just about a week away from a bachelor of music in vocal music education.
2. My fifth grade teacher. Mrs. Carney was just one of those teachers who you knew cared about you. Fifth grade was a ridiculously loaded year when it came to homework and my parents wanted to scream when they saw how much work I had all the time. I did, too. But there was so much fun to be had in fifth grade, too, and I have Mrs. Carney to thank. The medieval unit was one of them. Outdoor Ed. was another. I still will never forget how happy I was to see my teacher at my high school graduation open house. What a great moment.
3. My piano teacher when I was growing up. Mrs. Lathouwers REALLY taught me what it was to love music. I was caught by my parents always plunking away at the piano and they finally got me to take piano lessons, and even though there can be a certain stigma surrounding them, not with Mrs. Lathouwers. She had that genuine love for students that comes from inside. You can't just replicate that in a factory and learn it. It has to be discovered inside. There's a reason why I took lessons from her from 4th grade all the way through senior year of high school and found it so hard to say good-bye after my final lesson. I still miss her, and I know what I learned from her will go with me and be used the rest of my life.
4. My college voice teacher, choral conductor, and advisor. Dr. Richmond picked up where Ms. Sopha left off and first put me in my place. I needed a serious ego check as far as my musicianship was concerned. I was WAY out of line and he was just the person for the job as far as that was concerned. Once that was taken care of, then we could set to work actually improving my singing. He didn't do too bad-I'm all set to graduate, I feel comfortable conducting choirs, I think I can conduct an orchestra with some confidence, and I think I can sing!

Currently Listening Sacred Treasures IV: Choral Masterworks, Quiet Prayers O Weisheit see related