- Good
- |
- Nov 07, 2020
Teacher Quotes
On teaching, mentorship, and lasting impact.
Alongside a personal memory of teaching mythology in college, several quotes cite research on how a single effective teacher changes a student's odds of finishing school. For lighter material, see Jokes.
- Last Updated on May 30, 2021
- High School
- |
- Nov 07, 2020
I was a social studies teacher at a high school in the Bronx for five years.
- Me
- |
- Nov 07, 2020
I often think that the prime directive for me as a teacher of writing is akin to that for a physician, which is this: do no harm.
- Me
- |
- Nov 07, 2020
I've never studied the classics, but I'd like to. My teacher offered to show me how the Greeks were able to sculpt someone perfectly. From there, you can go off and experiment - sort of like jazz. Once you learn to play anything, you can break the form and go and do something even bigger.
- Dad
- |
- Nov 07, 2020
I had my heart set on becoming an English teacher, but stumbled into acting after meeting a theatrical agent in my dad's restaurant in San Diego.
- Disheartening
- |
- Nov 07, 2020
To see, once again, that African American students are more likely to have a limited math curriculum and an underpaid novice teacher is disheartening and should be a call to action for policymakers and educators.
- Me
- |
- Nov 07, 2020
I was fortunate to have many teachers who encouraged me - one of the first was Dianne Derrick, my 5th grade teacher at Woodbury Elementary. She challenged us to write creatively and praised my work, but most importantly, she treated writing like it was important.
- Devices
- |
- Nov 07, 2020
My father was a Jewish immigrant who settled in Argentina and was left to his own devices at the age of 15. My mother was a teacher, herself the daughter of a poor immigrant family.
- Good Teacher
- |
- Nov 07, 2020
When I had my first voice lesson I was 15 years old. And I had a really good teacher. This is what made all the difference. A good teacher will teach you the technique, but also how to listen to your voice.
- Me
- |
- Nov 07, 2020
I got my degree in acting and theater, and then I had a teacher who told me to take a class with The Groundlings. And for a second, I thought, 'Well, I don't know about that. I'm a serious actress.' And then I did, and I loved it, and I said, 'Ah, well, I guess this is what I'm going to do now.'
- Light
- |
- Nov 07, 2020
Every writing teacher I ever had except for one told me I was an awful writer, had no idea what I was doing, and should stop immediately. It only took the one to tell me something different to light a fire under me.
- Fight
- |
- Nov 07, 2020
I remember one time in my junior year, in my art class, our teacher had us doing, like, finger paints, and I went and put a stripe on a girl's shirt, and it turned into a big paint fight. Paint all over the walls, all over everybody. It was pretty fun.
- Attended
- |
- Nov 07, 2020
I count myself well educated, for the admirable woman at the head of the school which I attended from the age of four and a half till I was thirteen and a half, was a born teacher in advance of her own times.
- Faith
- |
- Nov 07, 2020
At Cornell, my acting teacher said you cannot be religious and be an artist. I sort of got it, because faith is a comfort and art comes from a lot of places, in a lot of people, from the dark chasm.
- Great
- |
- Nov 07, 2020
My humanitarian work evolved from being with my family. My mom, my dad, they really set a great example for giving back. My mom was a nurse, my dad was a school teacher. But my mom did a lot of things for geriatrics and elderly people. She would do home visits for free.
- Lose
- |
- Nov 07, 2020