Just 3 Teachers

Here are my ‘Just 3 Teachers’. Thanks to Michael Tidd for the inspiration. 🙂

1. The teacher I emulated.
I’m going to cheat and pick two. First up is Miss Ladd, my secondary English teacher (we were so excited when we found out her first name was Cheryl). She was gorgeous – auburn hair curled around a sweetheart face, clear blue eyes and a lovely smile. She was brilliantly clever, and funny too. And she let us do projects. My second choice is Christopher Gable, who had wide puppy-dog eyes and a beautifully expressive mouth, and who knew how to bring teaching completely to life. It was pretty cool being taught by someone famous, too.

2. The teacher who changed me.
Valerie was only here for a while, but while she was here, she changed me, because she taught me to believe in myself. Valerie was a young American teacher, and I had A Level English lessons with her when I was training as a dancer. She got me to read her poetry and we talked together about literature. One day they called us into the dance studio, and told us that Valerie had died in the night. She changed me twice, then, because she taught me how fragile life is too.

3. The teacher who made me want to teach.
My mum. Because (a) you can’t escape your genes, and (b) mums are great for inspiration.