This big red apple is for my sister who is in the Chesterfield County, Va, school system teaching elementary students, for all my teacher friends, for the homeschool moms who are 24/7 teachers, and for those educators who helped mold me.
I was educated in the Chesterfield County public school system outside Richmond. I received a wonderful education, and there are teachers from elementary through high school who still stand out to me.
Mrs. Gibson was my first grade teacher, a loving lady whose daughter was my best friend (and who is now a pharmacist). Mrs. Gibson taught me to read and opened the world to this bookworm.
Mrs. Booth was my sixth grade teacher who encouraged my love of writing and who hoped to see me published one day. When The Washington Examiner offered a paid writing position several years ago, Mrs. Booth's hope from years earlier finally came true.
In seventh grade I had Mr. Witthoeft, a teacher fresh out of college who was youthful and fun. We were in middle school but weren't to the point of changing classes yet so he was my sole teacher for all subjects. What a class of high achievers we had!
What Mr. Witthoeft did was continue to encourage my love of writing as well as compliment my love of reading. He once asked the class how many books they read each month. When he got to me, he filled in the blank himself: "Probably 30 or so." That was a bit of an exaggeration but he had noticed that I always had a book in my hand.
He taught creative writing in a way that made me want to jump into the assignments. Math? Ugh. Writing? Bring it on! It kindled the fire that still burns inside to write and share in what is a cathartic activity for me.
Another budding writer was in that class and he made newspaper reporting his career. Even today, Bob Stuart's articles -- many about politics -- can be read in the Waynesboro News Virginian. Oddly enough, after parting ways at the completion of high school, he and I have now lived in the same area of the Shenandoah Valley for a number of years and often see one another at supervisor meetings and other news-worthy events.
In high school there was an older gentleman whose name I cannot dredge up at the moment but he was the teacher instrumental in bringing debating into my life. Every issue has (at least) two sides, and he taught us to research and use facts instead of getting caught up in the passion of hysterics. He wasn't able to teach me to be comfortable with public speaking -- I still took zeros on any subject that required standing in front of the class -- but I learned to use those debate skills in my writing.
Years later when I was in my 40s, after spending years educating my children at home, I? finally overcame my fear of public speaking with the help of a homeschool student. Nate Salatin, who spoke frequently for Augusta County 4-H projects, taught a public speaking class in my living room for his fellow homeschool students. I took the class right along with them. Nate provided the tools necessary to become comfortable addressing crowds, and I later went on to speak at his Class of 2007 graduation as well as at conventions and other venues. I looked forward to speaking and learned to enjoy this mid-life achievement.
Even today I'm still learning from those around me especially the youthful bloggers who offer technical advice and open my eyes to new worlds of technology. My teacher friends encouragingly push me beyond my comfort zone as I continue my learning journey.
To them all, I tip my hat with gratitude for the hours of dedication, energy, and loving attention they put into making education fun and, well, educational, for their students because to teach is, truly, to touch the future.
Cross-posted at Bearing Drift
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We’re less than two weeks away from 24 hours of sheer hacking bliss. We’ve also released the final batch of tickets for the event, so if you’re planning on hacking, this is your final chance to get tickets. http://tcdisruptny-hackathon2012.eventbrite.com/ Developers looking to find a group to hack with, toss your hat in the ring at:?http://bit.ly/nyc-disrupt-collab. Likewise, if you’re a designer looking to find a team for the event, add your details to the Design Trust form at:?http://bit.ly/nyc-disrupt-dt New API Workshop Sessions We’ve added another lecture area to allow for a whole new batch of great API workshops. Microsoft – 2pm Presenter:?Danilo Diaz,?Microsoft Developer Evangelist where he helps developers understand Microsoft’s product offerings and strategy. Come learn more about the award winning Windows Phone platform and how to make your apps come alive on it! You?ll hear more from Developer Evangelist Dani Diaz on how to build beautiful apps on Windows Phone. To get yourself prepared, you should review the Windows Phone Training & Download Windows Phone Tools SDK Mashery – 3pm Presenter:?Amit Jotwani,?Developer Advocate & Front-end Developer at Mashery Mashery is the world leader in API technology and services helping over 150 companies manage their APIs. “Read Less, do more” is the mantra of this workshop. Developers will get a taste of API Explorer – an interactive documentation system designed to learn and explore RESTful APIs like Klout, USA TODAY, Rovi, Whit.li, NY Times and many more. Hacks built using any APIs listed in our API Explorer would be eligible for Mashery prize. Additionally, we’d be giving out beer-opening USB drives with code libraries and tools from our Mashery Hack Shortcut station onsite. Details regarding Mashery’s API can be found at:?http://dev.mashery.com/iodocs CityGrid – 4pm Presenter:?Kin Lane,?Developer Evangelist for CityGrid Monetize your local web and mobile applications using CityGrid. Local advertising is expected to grow 18% from $15.7 billion this year to $18.5 billion according to Borrell & Associates. Local advertising is a primary way for developers to monetize their web and mobile apps. Learn how to monetize your apps with CityGrid mobile, web, or custom advertising APIs and Places that Pay. Developers can earn revenue from just displaying information about certain businesses and connecting users with merchants via reviews, offers, images, videos, social networks and on the phone. Understand how to maximize your applications revenue with local advertising, but also go beyond advertising by delivering valuable content to your users,
