"Teacher Training"

I never thought about how a teacher's training begins the moment one steps into a classroom for the first time. I thought about the "lessons" I've learned from my teachers over the years. Miss Moynihan, my Latin teacher. She made her students stand to recite their conjugations and declensions. If someone made a mistake, they couldn't sit down. I remember some days by the end of the period, everyone -- but Miss Moynihan -- was standing. I learned to push myself in Miss Moynihan's class -- and I learned I could master anything I set my mind on mastering. I learned teachers can push students ... maybe should push students ... set the bar high...Miss Moynihan expected greatness from her students...I suppose some students hated Miss Moynihan and were "crushed" by the rigor of her classroom, but hers was a classroom where I flourished. Of course, I'm not Miss Moynihan, and it's not my style to make students stand to recite, but I do try to have high expectations for my students -- to push them to achieve greatness, the way Miss Moynihan pushed me.