The Teacher Who Made a Difference

            With the exception of kindergarten, up until the fifth grade my teachers failed to understand learning disabled students. Okay. I give them a pass in that, during the 1950s and ’60s, there wasn’t much “out there” about this topic.

            I was one of those kids who just didn’t learn like everyone else. If there was a sound in the room, I was off task immediately. I processed information slower than most other students. Oh, there were one or two others who the cruel kids called “retarded.” (I didn’t endure that until a few years later.) I couldn’t read well nor remember how to spell words, and I constantly mixed up the letters “B” and “D,” the words “was” and “saw”—things like that.

            In fourth grade I was tested by a speech teacher. I’m not sure why, but that’s who did the testing. I don’t know if this was initiated by my teacher, my parents, or both. Maybe they thought I had a hearing loss to go along with my severe nearsightedness. And I was told I would be repeating the fourth grade.

            I was totally dissolved with this news. My utter distress caused my teacher to send me on to fifth grade, ready or not. I wasn’t ready, but I only saw that in hindsight decades later.

            But then I was given a gift! Miss Oberlies! She was as beautiful a teacher as she was compassionate. And perceptive because, what other teachers missed, she caught onto. My encourager! My educational heroine! I did my best to earn her praise.

            I didn’t realize then, but Miss Oberlies used my strengths to overcome my weaknesses. She recognized mine were in music and art. I had school violin lessons, so that was taken care of. Thus, she pegged me for my art ability.

            Miss Oberlies may have grasped hold of this idea to help me from the apples I brought her. Yes, bringing the teacher an apple was still “a thing” then. I didn’t bring just any old apple. My apples were dressed in construction paper outfits fit for whatever season we were entering. Thus, my first fruity gift to her wore a Halloween costume.

            I also drew beautiful maps, ornately colored. I loved doing those!

            It wasn’t long after that, Miss Oberlies approached me. “Sarah Ann (what I was called then), the big bulletin board in the hallway needs something special for Thanksgiving. I think you would do a wonderful job. How about I ask the principal if you may do that?

            I was THRILLED! This wasn’t any old bulletin board like the smaller ones in our classroom. This was IT! I’d made the big time! There was a catch, though.

            Miss Oberlies continued. “You’ll need to try really hard to have your regular classroom work done to be able to do the hallway bulletin board. Do you think you can do that?

            “Sure!” I exclaimed, smiling ear-to-ear.

            I still stumbled through much of my work, and I still didn’t ace those grades, but what Miss Oberlies did was give me the encouragement to try and the gumption to give it all I had.

            Sometimes I stayed after school to finish (for other reasons too, which we won’t discuss here), but I earned the reward of doing that bulletin board! Some of my construction paper creations were even 3-D. Those Pilgrims and Indians (as we called them then) “popped!”

            My teacher didn’t cure my learning difficulties, even though she patiently worked with me to improve my reading, etc. But she didn’t degrade me publicly or privately as some other teachers had and would.

            A student who’s lifted up will likely do better (or at least try) than one who is shot down.

            Now is the time of year when students have entered classrooms. In the south, the school year’s already begun. In the north, you’re just getting started.

            Teachers, YOU make a difference! So do the rest of you who work in our schools, be they public or private. Bus drivers too! How you teach your students—and I don’t just mean the academics—through your demeanor and attitude toward them could make a life-changing difference in some.

            Miss Oberlies was my teacher such a long, long time ago. But I will never forget her. She saw potential in this awkward gal and pulled the positive from me instead of “slapping” me with the negative. I only wish I could thank her one more time.

            Did you have a teacher who made a difference in your life? If so, you, too, were given a gift. If those teachers are still living, maybe you could jot them a note. They’ll be grateful to know they impacted your life.

            For those who may be wondering how to determine your student’s/child’s strengths, may I introduce you to Dr. Kathy Koch’s book, 8 Great Smarts? Dr. Kathy shows ways to use those smarts (every child has one or more) to draw out the best in your students/children.

            Here’s the link to a neat, encouraging kids’ song, I Am a Promise by William & Gloria Gaither:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQnJ-mxzZGI

 

#learningdisability #teachers #8greatsmarts #learningstyles #drkathykochphd