The things Teachers say

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Forum -> Interesting Discussions -> Inspirational

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amother

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 9:58 am

Teachers can be tremendously influential.
Personally, I was not the best student, daydreamed through most of my classes. But there are some lines that some of my teachers have said that stayed with me forever. (Ironically, I ended up becoming a teacher and I find myself repeating those memorable lines to my own students. Also, I find it fascinating when I meet up with an old student who will share with me what she remembered I said or taught many years ago.)
I thought it could be inspirational if we repeat those memorable ideas that still stick with us..

I'll start.
I had a teacher in seminary who said this almost every day (in a sort of sing-song voice):
"EVrything that Hashem does is the ABsolute very best thing that could POssibly happen, DUE to the circumstances which YOU put yourself in by your OWN free choice. "

**please only post positive things you remember from your teachers

amother

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 10:31 am

I had another teacher in seminary who said,
"When I was a child, we didnt speak lashon hara, but not because it was an aveira. It's because it was beneath our dignity!"

Love this!! Its so low to talk l"h, and I often think that when someone talks l"h in public, they are degrading themselves.
As an aside, this teacher was a yekke, so what she said just fit perfectly with who she was. 🙂

amother

Puce

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 10:37 am

One of the nicest things I learnt from a teacher was that there are many ways of understanding torah. This teacher would show us this asking open ended questions on tests about things that we discussed in class but also give credit if a student wrote something new or different than what she expected.
This teacher also took time to go into discussions that slowed the class down and wasn’t afraid of any questions that came up. She also took time to discuss things with students after class and apply things to their own lives.

amother

Orange

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 10:37 am

When I was in elementary school I had a really hard time davening and I couldn't concentrate. Most teachers got upset and told me to pay attention, put my finger on the place etc. One particular teacher worked with me and in the beginning told me to only focus on Shema and then she added more to the list as time went on and when I felt ready to add more. At the end of the year I didn't have any trouble davening the whole thing! She was my favorite teacher and I am so grateful that she worked with me instead of getting me in trouble or scolding me.

amother

Cerulean

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 10:40 am

This one may be controversial today but it still had a deep positive impression on me.

My seventh grade teacher always used to tell us.

"No matter what your experience is and will be, don't be the type of person who is her thirties and still blaming her parents, school, community etc. for her failing, faults and problems"

amother

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 10:41 am

(I posted this on the other thread)
My teacher used to say during tests ,
"Don't sell your neshama for a point!"

amother

Babyblue

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 10:42 am

I had one teacher who was particularly strict and prone to yelling. So when she called me out of class I suspected a verbal lashing. Instead she said “I want you to know that I really really love you”. So out of left field it bowled me over.

sushilover

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 10:57 am

"Wear clothing tight enough to show that you are a woman, but loose enough to show that you are a lady. "

"Challenge Hashem. Be angry at Him. Throw your problems at him. Never give up on Him because He never gives up on you. "

"You can't love Hashem if you don't love yourself"

sushilover

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 11:05 am

From secular studies teachers I was most impacted by their personality and approach to life. Those that had a joyful outlook or loved their subject or just exemplified the kind of decent, level- headed person that us rambunctious teens needed in our lives.

sushilover

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 11:07 am

Another teacher told us to remember to blend our foundation into our necks. This was in a parsha class in ninth grade before any of us were wearing makeup, but we all remembered that. LOL

amother

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 11:36 am

I had a teacher that was very makpid that when we said over a Rashi or Ramban, that we use the language and words that the commentator used. We all thought this was so odd and ridiculous to memorize the words rather than explain it in our own words.
But today, many years later, I still have an appreciation for the idea that our Rishonim were extremely careful with each word, and that using a different word can often corrupt the true meaning.
Today, many seforim are written to explain Rashi and Rambam and many different interpretations and halachos can result from the way a word was used in one place, as compared to a different place.
This impacted my emunas chachamim and appreciation for the depth of Torah.

amother

Olive

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 11:44 am

This was not something particularly inspiring but it made me feel like a million bucks.

One teacher told me that I am strong but silent leader. It was a non-jewish man who was my teacher in HS of all people but I felt so understood. I was always the girl who was "soooo quiet" and I hated being labeled quiet more than anything else. This teacher managed to find a big strength of mine that was so accurate but still such a compliment. And it was true.

amother

Jetblack

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 11:52 am

"The way you daven is the way your whole day will go."
I'm still not understanding that one 30 years later. Anyone can explain? I've had plenty of bad days that I davened and lots of good days that I didn't daven.

SuperWify

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 12:04 pm

In 5th grade I read a sentence I wrote (nothing too eloquent- something cliché about a kite flying swiftly in the clear blue sky...) and my teacher said, “wow you will be a great writer some day!”

I’m still not a great writer but I still hope to be some day!

In high school my teacher asked us who the other Christian church was (she had taught it to us 2 years prior to that) then she said- never mind, why you even remember? But being the history nerd that I was I blurted out “Greek orthodox”. She was like, “wow.. wow.” Pause. She looked at me and then said, “Ok, I’m not surprised.” I can’t tell you how good that “I’m not surprised” made me feel.

Last edited by SuperWify on Thu, Feb 18 2021, 12:06 pm; edited 1 time in total

SuperWify

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 12:05 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

(I posted this on the other thread)
My teacher used to say during tests ,
"Don't sell your neshama for a point!"

My teacher told us that to. I did not find it inspiring though. It’s more of a veiled threat.

I hated all those tznius gehenom stories as well.

SuperWify

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 12:18 pm

sushilover wrote:

I believe that’s attributed to Marilyn Monroe.

amother

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 12:19 pm

SuperWify wrote:

My teacher told us that to. I did not find it inspiring though. It’s more of a veiled threat.

I hated all those tznius gehenom stories as well.

I guess to each his own. To me it put the whole test taking in the right perspective. When u are taking a test( in school or in life) you can forget the bigger picture.

amother

Jade

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 1:23 pm

I had a very difficult teacher whose test I studied really really hard for. When it came to the test, I blanked out as a result of my extreme anxiety and nerves. I remember how she sat down in the desk next to mine, told me to relax, and helped me calm down. I was super frustrated, overtired from not sleeping the night before and quite chutzpadik. She did not react to the chutzpa, and just worked with me until I was able to complete as much as I could. After a good night's sleep, I had calmed down and went to her to apologize. She brushed it off saying she knows it wasn't really me talking and she understands that I was frustrated. She continued, "but I'd like to speak to you for a minute as a mother, and a grandmother. Not as a teacher. What you did wasn't healthy. A person needs to sleep. A person needs to eat..." The rest of her speech is irrelevant. What I remember is how she stayed calm and looked past the words to recognize the pain and frustration it was coming from, and how she showed me that she really really cares about me as a person. Her words really spoke to me and I still feel good thinking about it until today instead of remembering my anger and frustration.

SuperWify

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 1:24 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I guess to each his own. To me it put the whole test taking in the right perspective. When u are taking a test( in school or in life) you can forget the bigger picture.

Interesting perspective.

As an 11th grader in class I did not see that though...

amother

Black

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 1:36 pm

WHAT SUGGESTIONS WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE WITH EXTREME ANXIETY BEFORE A TEST..............

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