Yeah I saw that on Facebook earlier today…cute little meme but I’m a teacher. I’ve taught many teenage boys how to become men since their parents weren’t getting it done. I’ve had some that didn’t think too kindly of me but have had more thank me for it by the time they graduate.
My kids had a few teachers like you Joe. Both kids are in their 30's now, and guess what teachers were their favorites that they still keep in touch with?
The irony. Probably the 2 kids I got down on the hardest as a teacher,even failed one, now years later stay in touch. I always tried to as I chewed out to incorporate that they had the potential and why I am mad is that they were letting themselves down and are capable of so much more. I think that is what struck them was I wasn't just going on a FMJ drill seargent rip you apart power trip. Makes you feel like you did something right when years later they come up and talk to you and say thanks, I needed that.
I was in a local bar about 8 years ago or so and in came one of my former students who definitely plenty of battles with me. He was in his early 20’s and it was obvious he had spent a lot of time in the weight room since I had last seen him. He came over to me and I thought for sure he wanted to kick my azz (or try…not sure how that would have went lol) but he put his hand on my shoulder, asked to buy me and beer and proceeded to apologize for being such an a hole. He said I was one of the few teachers he had who tried to hold him accountable. We had a good conversation and after our beer together he went back to hanging with his friends. Looking back, I’m glad he didn’t want to swing on me because I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have ended well for me.
Yep, honest straight forward adults are a rare commodity these days. It takes a bit of maturity to realize how valuable those folks are.
That's a great tale. I think a lot of us didn't realize how much we appreciated the good teachers till we were out of school. 2 stand out in my mind and they were known "hardazzes". Their methods worked for me as I learned quite a lot from each.
