My Dad was a teacher in my school district too. Unlike you, it was a tiny school (my graduating class was larger than most at 33 students). Also, unlike you, my dad ended up being my 6th grade teacher for the entire year. What fun that was! (It wasn't too bad)
I'm pretty sure I would have died on the spot if that happened to me in 6th grade. Then again, i got to witness someone's thumbnail exploding in tetherball and broke four bones in 2 years. Still, at age 10 or 11, this was potentially lethal.
He's the one who taught me that open book tests were worse for the students because he could ask anything about the textbook even if he hadn't covered it.
How do I know that?
Because he went over in class strategies for making decisions and why picking open book could easily backfire.
He had us break into groups and make a movie over the year. Which culminated in our own Academy Awards ceremony. He showed us high speed photography and a sound machine so we could see and hear waves.
And he bounced from the moment he got to school until he drove off in his Karma Ghia.
No joke. He was a contender for Teacher in Space which Christy McAuliffe ended up winning.
Her flight was the Challenger.
After the tragedy, some high school friends and I were joking that if Barwick had been picked, we all would have assumed it would have been his fault.
"And this button here? What do we think this button does? (Mischievous eyebrow wiggle.) Let's push it and find out!"
I had some pretty great teachers over the years. One that perhaps sticks out was Mr. Murphy, our history teacher during grades 9 and 10 here in Denmark---my first two years of school after moving here from Ukraine. He was somehow simultaneously one of the stricter teachers (you wouldn't mess around in his class nearly as much as you'd try in others) while also being intentionally (and sometimes unintentionally) hilarious. I think I already shared the "Last Wish" story before, but here it is again: https://nest-expressed.com/2012/03/18/last-wish/
Side note: I love the level of detail and accuracy GPT-4o maintains in the image, down to the Nirvana album cover on the T-shirt.
Sophomore Geometry with Mr. Slaughter (seriously, his name), who was about my height (5’4”ish) with dark unruly hair and a thick Tom Selleck mustache. We were all “Mr.” Or “Miss” and our last name in his class. His dry sense of humor included (the now inappropriate) joke: “Mr. Jones, if you were tardy yesterday and you are tardy today, does that make you retardy?” And he was know to throw chalk (yes, chalk you youngsters out there, not a dry erase marker or stylus) at any kid’s head for no reason other then to make sure you were paying attention. And he didn’t have to compete with cell phones!
I knew some teachers like this! They kind of had to walk this line and do something kinda crazy to get all the kids engaged. What an interesting and challenging role teaching is.
High school is so weird. I did have an English teacher I really liked. Got a C on my first essay. Got better. He taught us some techniques to survive that first year of college.
Was this your favorite English teacher ever? I think I had one I really enjoyed in elementary school who encouraged me to do more creative writing - Mrs Huggins.
No, my favorite by far was freshman year and she was a PhD student teaching comparative literature or whatever English requirement I had a to pass. She was amazing. Not only did I have a major crush on her, she taught me how to write. I still have the essays I wrote that year. Like HS, I started badly and finished strong.
Oh wow! I wish I had some high school essays... maybe I do and haven't located them yet, so I will still harbor hope. I did read something I wrote around 6th grade and was shocked by how good my handwriting was, but not at how bad the sci-fi story was. It was called "Dimensional Journey."
My Dad was a teacher in my school district too. Unlike you, it was a tiny school (my graduating class was larger than most at 33 students). Also, unlike you, my dad ended up being my 6th grade teacher for the entire year. What fun that was! (It wasn't too bad)
I'm pretty sure I would have died on the spot if that happened to me in 6th grade. Then again, i got to witness someone's thumbnail exploding in tetherball and broke four bones in 2 years. Still, at age 10 or 11, this was potentially lethal.
William Barwick. Taught physics.
Not one boring day in the class.
He's the one who taught me that open book tests were worse for the students because he could ask anything about the textbook even if he hadn't covered it.
How do I know that?
Because he went over in class strategies for making decisions and why picking open book could easily backfire.
He had us break into groups and make a movie over the year. Which culminated in our own Academy Awards ceremony. He showed us high speed photography and a sound machine so we could see and hear waves.
And he bounced from the moment he got to school until he drove off in his Karma Ghia.
No joke. He was a contender for Teacher in Space which Christy McAuliffe ended up winning.
Her flight was the Challenger.
After the tragedy, some high school friends and I were joking that if Barwick had been picked, we all would have assumed it would have been his fault.
"And this button here? What do we think this button does? (Mischievous eyebrow wiggle.) Let's push it and find out!"
Powerful memories! Barwick had a strong impact on your life.
It's those moments where you learn to think critically that kind of dwarf all the other stuff. That is such a rare and incredible gift.
I had some pretty great teachers over the years. One that perhaps sticks out was Mr. Murphy, our history teacher during grades 9 and 10 here in Denmark---my first two years of school after moving here from Ukraine. He was somehow simultaneously one of the stricter teachers (you wouldn't mess around in his class nearly as much as you'd try in others) while also being intentionally (and sometimes unintentionally) hilarious. I think I already shared the "Last Wish" story before, but here it is again: https://nest-expressed.com/2012/03/18/last-wish/
Side note: I love the level of detail and accuracy GPT-4o maintains in the image, down to the Nirvana album cover on the T-shirt.
That's a great memory! I think you shared when I mentioned Mr. Oberly last time too. These dudes really had a profound impact on our lives.
I did ask for that Nevermind shirt in the image today, but I agree that the level of fidelity has leveled up this month.
Sophomore Geometry with Mr. Slaughter (seriously, his name), who was about my height (5’4”ish) with dark unruly hair and a thick Tom Selleck mustache. We were all “Mr.” Or “Miss” and our last name in his class. His dry sense of humor included (the now inappropriate) joke: “Mr. Jones, if you were tardy yesterday and you are tardy today, does that make you retardy?” And he was know to throw chalk (yes, chalk you youngsters out there, not a dry erase marker or stylus) at any kid’s head for no reason other then to make sure you were paying attention. And he didn’t have to compete with cell phones!
I knew some teachers like this! They kind of had to walk this line and do something kinda crazy to get all the kids engaged. What an interesting and challenging role teaching is.
High school is so weird. I did have an English teacher I really liked. Got a C on my first essay. Got better. He taught us some techniques to survive that first year of college.
Was this your favorite English teacher ever? I think I had one I really enjoyed in elementary school who encouraged me to do more creative writing - Mrs Huggins.
No, my favorite by far was freshman year and she was a PhD student teaching comparative literature or whatever English requirement I had a to pass. She was amazing. Not only did I have a major crush on her, she taught me how to write. I still have the essays I wrote that year. Like HS, I started badly and finished strong.
Oh wow! I wish I had some high school essays... maybe I do and haven't located them yet, so I will still harbor hope. I did read something I wrote around 6th grade and was shocked by how good my handwriting was, but not at how bad the sci-fi story was. It was called "Dimensional Journey."
Were your essays all nonfiction?
Not sure, have to dig them out. My favorite was called The Sandpiper. This was freshman year of collefe. Less weird
I wrote one my freshman year called "The Gruff", picking up on the "Billy Goats Gruff" limerick or rhyme or whatever.