This whole follow/copy-my-older-sibling thing bewilders me. If Grant says it, Rhett says it. If Grant yells, Rhett yells. If Grant wants a drink, Rhett wants a drink. If Grant wants to put on shoes, Rhett wants to put on shoes. If Grant is mad, Rhett is mad. I guess since I was the oldest and never had an older brother or sister to follow around, the idea of being someone's shadow is foreign to me. Therefore, I've really enjoyed watching this phenomenon at our house. Thankfully it's only a phase - not sure I want Rhett to copy everything Grant does.
I am so thankful Grant really seems to enjoy school. I absolutely HANDS DOWN hated school. I hated kindergarten up through junior high. I dreaded going to bed at night knowing that the only thing the next day had to offer was school - again - another l.o.n.g., boring school day that I had no choice but to endure. It got MUCH better in high school, but I still never loved it. I never really liked my teachers until I got to high school. Well, there was my junior-high math teacher, Mr. Pearson. He rocked. But high school is where it changed - barely. Only a few teachers made a difference to me. (which I think is kind of sad) Mrs. Cleveland was awesome. She and I had a special bond (still do). Mr. Lee was awesome. He got a bad rap (My heart still hurts for him). Mrs. Hope was awesome. She was the first choir teacher I ever had that I felt actually taught me something and respected me and cared about me. That woman taught me singing, and that woman taught me how to be a confident and competitive soprano. She showed me "the ropes" for surviving as a soprano in a competitive district, and for that, I'll always love her. Who knew that sopranos could be so catty???!!!!!! Not me - until state choir auditions, that is. (I know, DUH! I think everyone knew this about sopranos, but me. Leave it to me to be the last informed.) That's where I learned to play the mind games, thanks to Mrs. Hope, and I learned that those mind games were just as important as singing your music perfectly in order to defeat your opononents. Let's see... That's about it. I hated my math teachers. Ya, that was mainly b/c I was bad at math and they really didn't help me - even when I went to tutorials. They just sort of threw me life vests to keep me afloat when I was so close to drowning and really needed saving. Come to find out, I think they were just really bad teachers. In college, Kerry tutored me in math, and I had no trouble learning from him. He just knew how to present the material to me. (sort of sad, in my opinion, since my teachers actually had a degree for teaching math and Kerry didn't - then again, Kerry is a C.P.A., so he's really got this number thing down) You know who really stands out to me though? Mrs. Reed, and NOT for good reasons. And honestly, I don't see me getting along with someone that boastfully called herself "Baby Hitler". That woman still boggles my mind. She HATED me. Now, she LOVED my sister and brother, and she loved most of my friends, and she loves my dad, but I'm pretty sure she thought I was as worthless as belly button lint. Not sure why she thought that... I was good in her class. I followed the rules. I was nice. She just chose to hate some of us (a lot of us) and was down right mean to that select group, and she chose to love others (if you were in her AP English class). That always made me mad. Like you weren't worth her time unless you were in one of her upper-level courses. What a witch! But, I suppose that although as odd as it sounds, I should thank her. She made me a better teacher. She made me want to make every one of my students feel loved and worthy. She, along with most of the other teachers I had, made school a pretty big bust. I should thank them, too. Because of them, I wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to make a difference in the world by being the nice/cool teacher. (For the record, that doesn't mean that I'm the "easy" teacher. I tend to be the most strict with both discipline and academics.) I wanted my students to look forward to school, not hate every second of it like I did. Mr. Lee taught me how to do that. Mrs. Hope taught me how to do that. Mrs. Cleveland taught me how to do that. The final tier came in college. Some of my professors were FAB-U-LOUS-O! Truly gifted would be a better discription. They were born to teach, and they excelled at their craft. Dr. Rankin, a literature professor, stands out the most. That man is a genious. Not only was he a genious, but his teaching style and my personality totally clicked. He made class FUN, and I found myself feeling bummed when the class was over. From him I learned that teaching.......... was an art.
I am also thankful that school has changed drastically from when I was a student as it was certainly overdue. It has changed for the better for the kids. School is hands-on now. There are manipulatives out there for every possible subject under the moon. Kids actually move around and stay active at school as opposed to sitting at the same desk hour after hour like I did. School is fun. Even if you have a bummer teacher, there are still really awesome things kids get to do. I do have to take a sec to give a shout out for all those hard-working teachers out there. They no longer "have it made" and instead work their tooshies off day in and day out thanks to wasteful programs like "No Child Left Behind" and receive very little pay for their efforts. God, help 'em! God, love 'em!
How did I get off on this tangent????? Oh, yes. I am glad my kids love the idea of school. That's all I was really wanting to say.
