Best and Worst

Do you have a favorite teacher? What's her name and what grade did you have him/her? Why do you remember him/her being your favorite?

I don't have ONE favorite. I have a few.

Mrs. Kuykendall, Galloway Elementary, Mesquite, 1st grade
Mrs. Mauk, Galloway Elementary, Mesquite, 5th grade
Mrs. Taylor, 9-11 Latin, North Mesquite HS
Mr. Melillo, 12th AP English, Forney HS
Mr. Stamper, College Math

I liked these teachers for different reasons. Mrs. Kuykendall loved me and loved to teach her class. She always had a smile and a hug to share with us. I don't remember anything content-wise, but I do remember feeling like she loved me. In 5th grade Mrs. Mauk used the curriculum 'Voyage of the Mimi' and we adopted a whale for the year and received monthly updates from whale spotters about where our whale was and what he was doing. We did lots of group work this year and had lots of fun learning. She was a strict teacher, but not harsh. Mrs. Taylor loved Latin and loved her students. She played tennis, drove a red convertible and would remind us that she only had five years until retirement. We dig into Greek and Roman mythology and history and translated many texts. I saved her life one day, securing my place as her favorite student. Mr. Melillo led a very lax class but still had the students' respect. He has read most any book on the planet and taught a college level class, which helped me test out and get college credit. Mr. Stamper taught Algebra, Trigonometry, Geometry and Calculus at the community college. He knew his math front and back and also knew how to explain the 'how' and 'why' of math....which is essential if you want your students to want to learn math. This is the first math class I enjoyed taking and ended up taking every class he taught.

I'll not name my worst teachers, as some of them I can't even remember their names. In general, they were uncaring or not concerned with me as a student, did not know how to maintain control of their classroom, and were not structured enough with their content to make any real progress.

Do you remember your best and worst teachers? What impression did they leave you with?