Aren't some teachers great?

Teachers have such a big effect on the future of children and whether they want to learn.

I've been having a discussion with several parents lately about how the way a teacher treats a child affects them and also how impressions made in the first few weeks last the entire time they are with that teacher.
We have been having these because several are having a problem with one teacher in particular. She is very into all pupils participating in everything whether they like it or not and won't change her mind about a child once she has decided what they are like.
My son started a new school in September but is the type of child you either love or loathe, the Principal, Vice-principal and assistants love him but his teacher doesn't. He seems to have left a very lasting impression on her as a trouble maker. He's like his mum and won't admit to being wrong (teacher seems to be the same!) but this has caused him to have several run ins with her in the first few weeks.
Now it seems that when someone does something wrong the first child to be blamed is him and even when the rest of the class tell her it wasn't him she won't believe them! I have had to contact her several times to find out why he's so upset. The last time I was told she hadn't given out the punishment so I should contact the teacher who did! I thought the class teacher was the first one to talk to and that they are informed about punishments and such like. I also thought the punishment wasn't called for as he had apologised for what had been an accident, but I'm just his Mum and would be biased, so I was told.
This teacher runs the choir and on talking to other parents the children in it don't like it because if they aren't able to attend for any reason they are told they are letting the whole group down and should be there no matter what. She'll soon find out that the kids have had enough as the majority are leaving at the end of the month, after they have performed at their concert.

I on the other hand had some fantastic teachers right from primary 1 until I left school. Most encouraged all in the class and promoted the best behaviour from the pupils. Obviously there where some teachers I hated but the ones I remember where the great ones.
My fondest memories are from P1 when we had such a fun teacher with which we loved to learn and she made us feel safe, secure and happy because we knew what to expect.
P3 was great also, we got to be in the choir and sing at Xmas. I wasn't the most attentive at one of the performances and fell off the tables we where standing on. Got told off by the Vice-Principal once she'd checked I was OK, I still enjoyed myself!
My favourite teacher taught us in P6 + P7. He really encouraged us to read and we developed a love of C.S. Lewis. We made models, acted out scenes from the books. He would do anything to get us to like what we where doing. He loved teaching us all about electronics, even when many fathers thought that girls wouldn't be good at it and shouldn't learn as they wouldn't need to use the info!!! We where very sad when he left half way through the last year to be Principal at another school. I have met him since, his son was in my son's class in P1. He was so embarrassed to have a child the same age as one of his former pupils' child. Both his wife and myself saw the funny side!

Moral of the story - TEACHERS PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHEN TEACHING OUR CHILDREN, YOUR ATTITUDE TO THEM AFFECTS THEM FOR LONGER THAN THEY ARE IN YOUR CLASS. Please, because a child seems to be bad take the time to see what they are really like before you judge them, they may just be unsure of what is expected of them and also what their potential is.

Thank you