Well, I know we are back at school because I am back to waking up at 3 am and thinking about stuff.  Usually the thoughts that keep me up at night are….“How can I make this lesson better?  How could I have taught that objective differently?  Why didn’t they understand, what can I do different with it tomorrow?”  This time, however, I was thinking about a question Mr. Steele had asked us about lessons when we were in school.  I’ll admit it’s been a loooooong time so, specific lessons are hard to remember, but what does jump out in my mind were the teachers.  The 7^th grade science teacher who started the first day of class with a metal garbage can lid and it had a map of the earth drawn on it.  He insisted it was correct.  We spent the entire period trying to convince him it was not and that the earth wasn’t flat.  Man did it make us think and present really valid ideas.  He also let me sit on the lab tables during class, now you may think this is silly, but I’m not that tall and the board was behind his big lab table.  This simple thing made me realize that he cared about the fact that I couldn’t see the information and let me do what I needed so I could see.  The 6^th grade math teacher who insisted I “show my work.” I giggle a little inside every time I say that to a student.  I now understand why he asked it so I sympathize with the kids when I say it to them.  At that age I just didn’t understand why he didn’t get that I just “knew it”. I remember my 11^th and 12^th grade science teacher who reached out a helping hand when she knew I needed it.  Whether it was to help with balancing science equations, giving me little tricks to remember the periodic table of elements (AU get back here with my gold, AU the name for gold.) to just helping me survive the jungle that is High School.  I remember the gymnastics coach / PE teacher that I have from 7^th grade all the way through graduation, she supported her students in any way she could.  There are many more, but I’ve come to realize it wasn’t necessarily the specific lessons that got me, but he way they approached life and their students that helped make me the person I am today.