Inspirational Stories... and a Giveaway too!

A million years ago, I was in sixth grade. My teacher's name was Mrs. Shaar. She was young and new to the profession. She loved all things Snoopy. And she loved sixth grade.

At the end of the year, my teacher got married. And she invited her entire sixth grade class to her wedding! She became Mrs. Moore. And, without either of us knowing it, she became my inspiration for teaching.

Mrs. Moore made school fun! I couldn't wait to get out of bed and rush to school each morning. I have a million memories of my sixth grade year. Here are three:

• If you were a strong reader, Mrs. Moore put away your basal reader and let you choose "real" books from her cupboard. I remember I read Rascal. And Beowulf. (Almost five decades later, I still can't believe I read Beowulf! I'm not sure I could read Beowulf now!) She established a love of reading in my life that nudges me to encourage my own students to love books too...

• My friend's mother passed away in the middle of sixth grade. After that happened, Mrs. Moore took Maura and me out to breakfast once a week "to be sure that Maura drank her milk." I think all three of us knew it was much more than that. Those memories remind me that a caring heart is remembered long after everything else...

• Mrs. Moore wasn't afraid of "authority figures." Our principal was a serious man who wore a suit and tie. I don't remember him as a smiling fellow. One day, we were dancing around in class, singing a song about elephants. I'm guessing it was a spontaneous decision... We linked together like an odd sort of Conga line, danced out of the classroom, and danced THROUGH the principal's office! I remember him standing behind his desk, mouth agape as we all filed through. And I remember my teacher smiling!  I often "dance" (badly) my class to our classroom. (More than once one of my sixth graders has commented, "Perhaps you shouldn't dance in public...")

Why am I telling you all of this? Because my wonderful friend, Susan, from Middle School OCD is co-hosting a celebration for reaching the 300 follower milestone. In my opinion, she should have 3000 followers. She's a wonderful teacher and a fun-to-read blogger! Susan is celebrating with another along sweet blogger, Miss Lifesaver, who has also reached the 300 follower mark!

(Hmmm. Does this sound like the beginning of a word problem to anyone else?!)

Together, these two BloogyBuddies are hosting a giveaway and a scavenger hunt. You will have an opportunity to read about some other "favorite teachers" and the ways in which they influenced the lives of those who are teaching (and blogging) today.

It's a WONDERFUL giveaway with some really great prizes (Starbucks, anyone?!) Better than that, you have an opportunity to meet some new bloggers... and that's always my favorite part of adventures like this!

So hop on over and join in. Just click the cute graphic above. You'll have an opportunity to read some  inspirational stories and just feel GOOD about teaching.

With that, I'm wishing you a wonderful weekend--and a restful three-day for those lucky enough to have Monday off...

PS  Sorry to those who now have THREE copies of this post cluttering up your blog feed. Blogger and I aren't on speaking terms at the moment. We've been arguing all morning. Finally, at least for now, I am winning.