One word can take me and many Darlington Lower School students back to a classroom filled with love. Elmer. That word speaks volumes. Elmer the flea. Elmer belonged to one amazing teacher, Mrs. C.
Mrs. C taught 3rd grade. In her class we read a book that to this day is still a favorite, Sideways Stories from Wayside School. I read it to my students every year! We learned a lot, made fun memories, and best of all loved Elmer!
Elmer would do tricks. He was the most acrobatic flea ever! Swirls and swirls and swirls. Round and round and round Elmer would go. He could jump from one hand to the other. Sometimes he would jump to our hands! Mrs. C would talk to Elmer and he would talk back to her.
In a teacher training this week, we were tasked with creating a mission statement. After writing our mission statement we were asked to bring something that represented it. My mission statement says that I strive to be the teacher that is remembered for loving her students and instilling a love of learning in them. I want to be the teacher that they remember 23+ years later as a person who greatly influenced their life.
I decided to take Elmer to represent my mission statement. (Not the real Elmer, because he still lives with Mrs. C!) I had a paper bag with Elmer's name on it. People were wondering who Elmer was and why he was in a bag. I enjoyed showing what an invisible flea like Elmer could do.
I explained that having Mrs. C as my teacher made me the teacher I am today. She made me a better person. I want to be that teacher for someone.
I've been asked before what I would do if I wasn't a teacher. I can't think of anything else I'd want to do. I love kids! They're hilarious and always keep you on your toes. I love learning from them and watching them learn and discover new things. And I remember being in school and wanting to be a teacher because her book had the answers in it. ;)
Thank you, Mrs. C for being an amazing teacher and touching so many lives! And thanks to Elmer too!
Mrs. C sounds wonderful!!!
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