What memories will you leave with the children that you work with?

I wonder if we all have one teacher we'll never forget.For me, there are two.One taught me a lesson I'll never forget for all the wrong reasons.At primary school, we had to write a story about penguins. Once we'd written it in pencil, the teacher would check it before we wrote over it in pen and displayed it for parents' evening.I'd spelt the word "father" incorrectly.She sent me back to change it.I did.Unfortunately, I'd changed it to "farter."She announced it loudly enough for the whole class to hear.Everyone laughed.She sent me back again.The problem wasn't that she'd corrected my spelling.The problem was that she never actually showed me how to spell the word.She simply kept sending me away to get it right.Over forty years later, I still remember how embarrassed I felt.Years later, I met another teacher.Mrs Pope.She taught me English at college.A few months after I started college, my dad died.She often checked in on me.She listened.She cared.She treated me as a person before she treated me as a student.I couldn't tell you everything she taught me.But I'll never forget how she made me feel.It's funny, isn't it?The teachers we remember most aren't always the ones who taught us the curriculum best.They're the ones who made us feel seen.As tutors, parents and teachers, I think that's something worth remembering.Children may not remember every worksheet......but they'll often remember how we made them feel.