When you think of teachers and their importance in your life, you want to think of them in a good way. After all, you spend a significant part of your childhood in classrooms with these people. The teachers in my life have made both positive and negative impacts on me.
The first major impact I felt was when my 1st-grade teacher ignored me during show and tell. I felt disappointed, making me think that what I had to show was insignificant. The overall impact was to make a shy, timid girl withdraw into herself even more. From that day on, I never brought in another item to show. The positive impact came when I later shared that story with Lisa and as a 1st and 2nd grade teacher, you can be assured that her students had her full attention when it was time for show and tell.
A few years later, I had another teacher impact me in a negative way when they showed favoritism to many of the students in my class, but I was not one of them. I struggled all year trying to become one of the “chosen ones” only to fail. It was once again proven to my childhood brain that I wasn’t worthy of my teacher’s attention.
The next year brought about a completely different perspective. My teacher praised me and complimented me on my work and made me feel worthwhile. The way this teacher treated me and the other students in the class was a complete turnaround from the previous year. This one showed me that each student was worth the effort.
A few more years passed by and I encountered a teacher who went above and beyond and took every lunch hour to tutor me for their math class.
Unfortunately, I had many more teachers that had a negative impact on me. Teachers that tried to embarrass me in front of the entire class to try to be funny or to try to prove a point, others that didn’t want to be bothered to help unless you were the best and the brightest. There were only a few who gave something extra of themselves to help their students or show they cared.
Both the positive and negative had their significance in my life. Luckily, I didn’t take all the experiences of my childhood teachers into adulthood. Over the years, I’ve realized the importance in each of the lessons they’ve given and found that the most important lesson they’ve all taught me is when we are dealing with people, they deserve our time and full attention. What may not seem important to you may mean the world to someone else!
Click here to check out other Sidetracked opinions
Click here to listen to the Sidetracked Legacies podcast
#sidetrackedsisters #sidetrackedchelle #sidetrackedlegacies #legacywriting #legacystories #writeyourownlegacy #teachers #childhoodtrauma #inspiration
Want to create your own legacy? Join the Sidetracked Sisters and start now!
Ever thought about working with a Life Coach? Are you creative or a writer who is frustrated with your inability to do the work you so desperately feel called to do? Check out Lisa Hoffman Coaching.
