Saturday, April 16, 2011

Mrs. Wingert

 

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Third grade.  When I look back on that year, it still seems magical.  I had, you see, the very best teacher who ever wrote her name on a chalkboard.

The year I had Mrs. Wingert for a teacher was her last year.  And maybe that is why she was so memorable.  Maybe she was trying hard to make it a magical year for herself too.

She told us stories.  Like the time her husband got mad and punched  a mule in the mouth and broke his hand.  Or the time she watched as birds landed on a telephone line only to be electrocuted and fall to the ground.  As a class of 8 year olds, we were mesmerized.  As an adult, I can see through these tales for the fiction they probably were.

She also knew the power of praise.  I will never forget her remark about my observation that pomegranate seeds were heart shaped.  “Brilliant!”

Towards the end of the year, Mrs. Wingert started to clean out her classroom.  She held daily drawings.  Mysteriously, every kid won something, every day.

When Mrs. Wingert retired, the school presented her with a new handbag.

But I had already given her my heart.

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Who was your favorite teacher?

 

I intended to post this yesterday on Lisa’s blog Two Bears Farm for her Memory Lane Friday linkup, but my computer was “sick” all day.  Here it is now-and Lisa-I’ll try to link up next week. 

 

Pictures sourced from the internet.

8 comments:

  1. You can still link up ;-) Love this! I wonder if more birds used to get electrocuted on wires than do now? Because they probably have better wires now than when Mrs. Wingert was watching them. She sounds like a wonderful teacher!

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  2. I've found that the favorite teachers who come to mind were the ones who really engaged our young minds, and inspired independent thought, allowing us to see our own capabilities. My 10th grade English teacher was one, and a particular 4th grade nun who expected the very best from us was another!

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  3. I agree Joanne! And my 10th grade English teacher sure fit the bill too!

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  4. My eighth grade English teacher was the first one to really foster my writing, and then my 10th & 11th grade English teachers, one for her praise the other for his criticism.

    Finally, the music professor in college whose door was always open.

    So much love for the teachers in my life.

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  5. C-thanks for reminiscing about your teachers. I had a great 9th grade English teacher who I have to thank for making me the good speller I am today-and she had a lovely soft southern drawl too:)

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  6. I can see why she was memorable - she was real. I used to love my teachers in grade school, cried at the end of the year because I would miss them over the summer.

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  7. Thanks Kim.
    I used to love most all my teachers too, and the end of the school year was always bittersweet:)

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