Writers and Teacher Appreciation Week

 

This is National Teacher Appreciation Week .Let's focus on the teachers that we writers look back on as ones who inspired us to become a writer and those who taught myriad things about the writing world. 

I taught third and fourth grade and emotionally disturbed children for a period of five years after I graduated from college. In numbers, that's not very many years. I had the good fortune to be able to be a stay-at-home mom after our children were born. Even so, I didn't walk out of that last classroom with the thought of ditching my teaching abilities. I've used them over the years in leading various organizations. I've called on my teaching experience when I do public speaking about writing and writing family stories. I've used those abilities when I lead a workshop at a writing conference. 

One of the reasons I started this blog for writers centered on helping other writers thorugh the knowledge I'd gained over the years and being able to use those long-ago teaching skills once again. I love teaching through the written word. 

Let's get back to those teachers you had in your school years that inspired you to become a writer. Did you get notes from a teacher across an assignment complimenting your writing ability? That would certainly encourage you, wouldn't it? Did a teacher take you aside and talk to you about the possibility of pursuing a writing career? 

Did a high school English teacher make books and stories come alive for you? Make you want to do the same for others? Did an English teacher show so much enthusiasm for the writing world that she/he made you want to be a writer? 

Take a moment and look back at the teachers you had in your grade and high school years, maybe even college. Can you single out a few who inspired you to enter the writing world?

What about later in life when you took writing as a serious venture? Was there a person who helped you learn your way through the writing world? It doesn't have to be a professional teacher. It could very well have been another writer. I've learned a great deal from other writers, especially those in writing groups. Their aim is not necessarily to teach, yet they do so in many ways.

One of the early online writing groups I belonged to had a moderator who was tough on those in the group. She didn't use soft and pretty words to make us work harder and do better. Nope. She seemed harsh at times, critical, and almost unfeeling. Even so, I learned a great deal from her and remember her with great fondness. There were members who could not take her method of teaching, and they quit. They considered her words personal criticism rather than lessons to be learned. Those of us who stayed reaped the benefits.

Some of the strictest, toughest teachers we all had over the years were the ones who actually taught us something, the ones whom we remember, and the ones who ignited a spark within us. They were able to dig deep and bring our best work forth. 

During this National Tacher Appreciation Week, be thankful for the teachers you had who helped inspire you to write and those who helped you learn to be a better writer. 

As for appreciating all teachers this week, we should. There is far more to teaching than standing in front of a classroom and talking. Only teachers know all the things they do that no one ever sees. Teachers have a tremendous responsibility, and most take it seriously. Let's be serious in our appreciation, as well. 

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Teachers Who Influenced Your Writing

This is National Teacher Appreciation Week, and today is National Teacher Appreciation Day. What better time to give thought to the many men and women who taught you and me over the past decades? Narrowing it down here to those who helped us become writers.

There are three parts to today's post:

1.  Teachers who helped us learn about the craft of writing: 

We must thank those teachers who introduced us to the world of writing back in grade school, middle school and high school. They were classroom teachers, ones who taught the language, and those who concentrated on Literature and Writing only. Did they all teach us to be writers? No, but we derived bits and pieces of learning to write as we moved from grade to grade. 

Some of us can pinpoint one specific teacher who set us on the path to a writing journey that has continued into adulthood. Maybe it was a college professor whose class on Creative Writing in which you soaked up knowledge about writing like a sponge. It could have been a person who conducted a workshop for writers at a conference. Or someone who wrote a book about writing skill that you have read time and again. 

Certain teachers stand out in our mind as ones who offered us the most useful and interesting material that helped us pursue our writing. The one who offered inspiration to write and keep writing. 

2.  Writers who become teachers of writers:

When we attend a writing conference, nearly every workshop presenter or keynote speaker is another writer. These people are willing to share their knowledge and experience with both newbie writers and seasoned ones. I am firmly convinced that we are never too experienced nor too old to learn more about our craft. 

Do we appreciate these 'writers who teach writers' enough? Next time you sit in a workshop taught by another writer, think about the time they put into preparing the lesson for you? What about the time they must take away from their own writing? They make this sacrifice to give you the gift of what they know about the subject, be it mystery writing, essay composition, or novels. 

Authors who write books about writing have dual purposes in most cases. They want to share their expertise, but they also want to publish another book and enjoy the royalties. When an author with a recognizable name writes a book about writing, others tend to pay attention. 

There are plenty of writers who are not willing to give the time and effort required to teach other writers. Some don't feel qualified. Some are terrified of speaking publicly. Some are takers, not givers. There are any number of reasons, and none are to be criticized. Instead, those writers should be all the more appreciative of writers who can teach other writers.

3.  Write to a teacher who helped you learn to write:

As an exercise, write a letter of thanks to a teacher who inspired or aided you in becoming a writer. Besides your thanks, let them know what they did to reach out to you, what made you remember what they taught you. You can mail it or not. Many of those teachers may no longer be living or whereabouts unknown. You can turn your letter into a personal essay or you can use it strictly as a writing exercise. Your choice. 

We didn't become writers without help from teachers throughout the years. Give some thought and appreciation to those who helped you both before and during your writing journey.