Curiosity
I think I became a teacher because I wanted to awaken in my students the kind of interest in a wide variety of things as my teachers has done for me. Clearly, I was a miserable failure in this regard and that's why I am going to be a lawyer. But that's not the point of this post.
In fourth grade, I did a project on Saturn. It involved factoids on a poster and a painted orange Styrofoam ball and pins and paper rings. I vaguely remember it being pretty poorly done, but my parents were from the school of thought that a kid should do her own science projects. Yet every time I see a television show or magazine article on Saturn, I always read it. That silly Styrofoam ball created in me a little bit of ownership in Saturn . . . its my planet.
I'm not saying I know more about Saturn than I know about, say tropical fish, but I know more about Saturn than I know about Uranus.
I had the same experience with a project on the Great Rift Valley and Evolution. I did a minor in Anthropology in college that can be directly linked to that paper I wrote in 8th grade. I trace my obsession with Sherlock Holmes directly to my 5th grade English teacher.
There are perhaps a dozen other topics about which I continue to be curious that I can trace directly to a project I did for school. Maybe I wasn't a miserable failure as a teacher, because teachers never really know where their influence stops. Maybe that is the point of this post.
How about you? Anything from elementary school that "stuck"?
5 little fish:
great post; it made me remember my much happier life as a teacher when I didn't feel guilty about taking 45 seconds from my outlining on a Saturday morning to read a blog post.
A teacher's influence is the best part of the job (except for July and August of course).
I have several things like that! I was in WINGS (sort an elementary gifted and talented program) and we had to do an "independent study" each year. I did one on whales, one on sea turtles, and my last one on polar bears. To this day I will stop to read anything about one of those species. As you said, they're "mine".
I totally understand! I can point to at least some influence or inspiration given to be by almost every one of my highschool teachers...the one or two that I hated, I still learned something from.
I know I am where I am today because of all the inspiring teachers along the way - this is why I often dream of becoming a teacher myself someday- you know, if law doesn't work out :)
We did a poetry project one year when I was in elementary school - I was so excited to do the same thing with my students when I was a teacher. I spent 2 hours in the children's section of the library just picking out examples. I hope my enthusiasm rubbed off on them.
Yes! The first research report I ever did was in 6th grade, and it was on Zaire. At this point I know pretty much nothing about what became of Zaire, but I still feel like I "know" the area that used to be Zaire a little deeper, and a little more intamately, than other African countries. We just go way back. We have history. Poor Zaire, I never expected that I would outlive you...
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