Comments on: The Influence of Teachers: The Story of Mrs. Booth

By: mizwrite

mizwrite — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:08:50 +0000

Oh, Jeanne, that’s great! I love to hear stories where a teacher finds out years later how much he/she meant to a student.

But, alas, no, I never told Mrs. Booth. In fact, I think she disappeared from my elementary school before I was even out of 4th grade. I wonder what ever happened to her and her houseboat and her groovy husband and her parrot. …

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:36:42 +0000

I actually did. I was able to email him about 18 or so years after he was my teacher and tell him just that. It was so nice to be able to tell him, and he was just as kind as he had been way back then.

Did you get the chance to tell Mrs. Booth?

By: mizwrite

mizwrite — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:25:39 +0000

Jeanne — That’s a terrific story about your band teacher! What a kind person. Your mentioning “Mr. Holland’s Opus” also made me realize that there ARE quite a few movies about teachers who influence students greatly (Dead Poet’s Society, Stand and Deliver, etc.), so it must be an experience we all share in one way or another. Were you ever able to tell your band director what an impact he had on you?

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:32:07 +0000

I had a band director in high school that had a profound impact on my life. Not only did he get me to see music in a different sort of way, but he mentored me, taking me under his wing and helping me through some difficult life changes as well as music. He did this with many of his students. He literally was like Mr. Holland in the movie Mr. Holland’s Opus. The things he taught me stayed with me and I employ some of them still.

One of my most cherished memories was the time when I was really ill and had to miss a concert. He wrote me a note and stuck it in my sax case. It said something to the effect of how much he would miss me but to stay in bed and get well because “someone over here really cares about you.” To find that in my case when I started feeling better was to me a feeling of being loved and valued. Such a great human being and a great music teacher.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 04:31:19 +0000

Ooops, you did mention houseboat. (Blush.)

By: Barbara

Barbara — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 04:18:59 +0000

I think Suzanne had Mrs. Booth, too, probably a year before you. Didn’t she live on a houseboat? (I don’t recall the hip factore at all, or the fro, but I was pretty little and maybe the woman I’m picturing was her kindergarten. But I’m pretty sure Mrs. Booth lived did live on a houseboat…

By: mizwrite

mizwrite — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 16:29:38 +0000

WindyA — Went to your blog and read your post. Love it. Did you ever tell Mr. G? I wonder if teachers have any idea of the powerful influence they have …

Kat — Holy Toledo, HS, too? (Does your craziness factor rise with each year completed?) : ) Actually, the bad teachers kind of get filtered out of my memory altogether, but the good ones I remember constantly. It’s interesting to watch my kids react to certain teachers now. I always wonder “Is THAT going to be the one they blog about someday?” ha, ha …

By: Kat

Kat — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:35:41 +0000

Okay, I wish you could hear me belly laughing~! Not only did I go to elementary school, I graduated from a Catholic high school. Went there from 5th to 12th grade.

It’s funny how the special teachers so stand out, and, unfortunately, the truly horrendous ones. I so want to read the story again as an adult but part of me wants to hear her read it again. She never minded if my nose was buried in a book!

By: WindyA

WindyA — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:29:38 +0000

Too funny you wrote about this today because I just blogged about my 8th grade English teacher yesterday!

By: mizwrite

mizwrite — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:14:08 +0000

Kat — You went to a Catholic elementary school??? Okay, based on your blog, I now have to put you into that category I have called “Craziest Girls I Know — All of Whom Went to Catholic School.” (That “stereotype” just gets stronger and stronger for me.) Anyway, yes, those fave teachers are so clear, aren’t they? And part of their power is that all the kids — including the rowdy boys — loved them, too. That’s a great story about “The Abandoned.”