I am a writer today because I was fortunate to grow up around gifted educators. My mother was a teacher. My father was a teacher. One of  my uncles was a teacher and another one was a librarian. Both of my grandmothers had been teachers in one-room schoolhouses out on the prairie. Teachers and teaching were part of the air I breathed and I absorbed the gift of good teaching by watching, listening, and emulating.
I was also fortunate to have a number of good teachers in school. My favorite teachers were ones who encouraged me and emphasized writing. I also had teachers who were very critical and did not encourage creativity and trying new things. I feel I learned a great deal about teaching from both kinds of teachers.
 When I work with teachers I ask them to remember their favorite teacher and think about what made that teacher special. Over and over I hear about encouragement, support and a willingness to try something new. These are the qualities I emphasize when I work with educators.
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