Mrs. Beeloff was my grammar and language arts teacher throughout seventh grade. She was an expert in her field, but this is not the reason she made such an impact. This woman was delightfully eccentric.

We listened to music, watched movies, listened to her ramblings about the ‘70’s and studied some very unusual poetry and literature that had other seventh grade students looking at their books like they were outdated toys.

I recall reading The Hobbit and getting my first exposure to Led Zeppelin one day when she played “Misty Mountain Hop”, drawing out all of the lyrical references to the book while simultaneously reliving her youth as an obvious hippie. At the time it was entertaining. Now, it is endearing and I look back on her quirkiness with respect.

Great teaching is more than having a firm grasp on your subject. It is about captivating and motivating your students. Keeping things interesting with some unusual personality does just that.

Thanks for being yourself, Mrs. Beeloff!

Without this accountability many children would not have any reason or way to improve every period. In much the same fashion, states are susceptible to similar scrutiny. The National Center for Educational Statistics keeps track of nationwide educational progress by analysis of many different data and statistics. Each year, they release the Nation’s Report Card, detailing performance of each states educational progress.

If the statistics show that a state has made little progress, they will have to face the music, just like you did when you were a kid. This past year’s report card shows level of change at both the 4^th grade and 8^th grade levels. It also includes both state and national levels of analysis.

The NCES tracks performance in art, civics, economics, mathematics, reading, science, U.S. history and writing. There are archives and long-term trend trackers as well.

For 2009, the top story from the report card was reading performance. Being the area of learning that has shown the most stagnant performance increase at theses grade levels, reading improvement was a key focus of the report. Though it improved at the 8^th grade level, the 4^th grade reading competency remained unchanged.

For information on your states performance or what policy makers intend to do to improve for the next report card day, visit the National Assessment for Education Progress’ Web site. The statistics are even broken down by demographic and language.

Coach Boyesen threw us right in there. It was immediately a do-or-die situation. I had to toughen up and learn fast, or get killed out there on the mat. Despite being 15 pounds underweight, Coach threw me into the starting line up, having confidence in me to get it done and help the team with minimal experience.

Always surprisingly stoic, Coach should have his picture next to the words discipline and hard work. As a man of around 40 years of age, he is still in better shape than most of his athletes. He made every practice as exhausting and difficult as possible to get us ready for the ring. I had never been forced to push myself so hard. I never even knew that I could.

Without that last minute discipline at the end of my high school career, I would still not know the meaning of pushing oneself to the edge.

Thanks Coach Boyesen, for knowing how much we can take before we do!

Despite dealing with a burden I would not wish on my worst enemy, the two women showed up every day with relentless energy and an ability to command our attention that is almost unprecedented. Always keeping things structured, yet interesting, they were able to split us all up and combine interchangeably with positive results either way.

I look at those two years as undoubtedly my favorite elementary school years, and possibly my favorite from K-8. Having so many children in one room, large as it was, made every day interesting. Our combined setup was the envy of the school. This is completely due to the dedication of our two teachers. They never showed the stress that obviously accompanied their job. Instead, they pushed one with the activities and gave us the best two elementary school years possible.

Thank you both for your hard work and love of teaching!

Mothers teach us manners.  They teach us to walk, talk, bike and take care of ourselves. They teach us when to laugh, cry and apologize. They teach us humility, self-respect, discipline and generosity.

When we leave home and start our own lives, it is our mother’s influence that helps us establish ourselves. I know that I would have no idea how to make a home without the lessons my mom has taught me. Where a father traditionally teaches discipline and hard work, our mothers compliment them with lessons in compassion and affection.

Mothers everywhere are truly teachers. For that, thank you all and have an amazing Mother’s Day with your students.

Mrs. Esther Yardumian Smyth, Academy of the New Church

Mrs. Esther is truly a unique teacher. Though her tone is often harsh and her opinions unflinchingly rigid, her obvious enthusiasm for teaching English to her high school students was enough to make me take multiple classes with her in my two years at the Academy of the New Church in Bryn Athyn, PA.

Being the head housemaster of the girls dormitory as well as a teacher of multiple classes, Mrs. Esther brings a no nonsense attitude to the table every day. She asks a lot from her students and has no qualms with expressing disappointment. She was never afraid to praise an exemplary performance, either.

For whatever reason, her gruff, ever-audible voice and impatience for any sort of classroom antics always found a way to keep things humorous despite its tyrannical overtones. Combined with her passion for literature and proper writing, Mrs. Esther will always be one of my favorite and most influential teachers. She recognized my ability to express myself and is a major reason why I chose English as a course of study.

Thank you, Esther, for your dedication to your students. Thank you for bringing out the best in us in your own special way.

The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) designated the first week of May as National Teacher Appreciation Week in 1985. May 4^th was declared National Teacher Day by congress in 1980. Rightfully so, the PTA decided that one day was simply not enough to recognize all the hard work teachers put in every day of the year.

There are many ways to get involved in Teacher Appreciation Week. This could be anything from bringing in a gift such as the classic apple if the student is still in school to writing a quick e-mail to a former teacher. My Teacher, My Hero even supplies a way to post a short thank-you video on the Internet.

It doesn’t take a lot to make a teacher feel special. Much like Mothers Day, Teacher Appreciation Week just gives us a friendly reminder that a thank you is in order. Pass the message along and help us thank some of the most important people in our lives.

This is a big deal for school systems whose reform programs might not attract the attention of the federal program. The group has set up an Internet portal for schools to apply through so that they do not have to go to an annoying number of sources for money. The coalition of foundations said that it would make an effort to extend loans to unsuccessful applicants of the Investing in Innovation program.

This news also came as a great comfort for the Education Department. Secretary Arne Duncan said that this sort of collaboration between federal and individual institutions is what the country needs to make reform work.

The foundations are investing so much money because they have been so pleased with the Obama administrations dedication to education reform. By attempting to match the federal program investment, they are showing their support for the revamped education programs in place.

The foundation money and the federal program are both aimed at three aspects of education reform: innovation in the classroom, ideas for turning around low-performing schools and research to find ideas that can work nationwide.

With Race to the Top coming under fire recently, this kind of financial and moral support for the Education Department will have a big impact. With the Internet portal in place, the coalition hopes that schools that have not yet been noticed will now have a way to get their ideas for reform out there.

New policy changes ask that states be increasingly aggressive in the next round of reform. But how bold is too bold? How can those in charge not see the inherent problem in asking legislators to increase the measures they are taking to improve student performance?

These questions do not seem to have an answer, at least not one that states and teachers unions can see eye to eye on. For a teacher, the idea of having one’s own performance scrutinized by how well a room full of students who have varying levels of competency is already a tough pill to swallow. To increase the standards for analyzing performance and get both full district and union support seems near impossible.

Of the 500 point grading scale, 20 percent relies on getting full support. The issues involved seem to be deeper than what can reasonably be reconciled by the deadline in less than six weeks.

After the disappointment that surrounded phase one, it appears that many states, including Kansas and Indiana, may not be competing in phase 2. With tensions rising between state legislators and teachers unions, it may not be reasonable to complete applications by the deadline.

It seems that the government sponsored program risks a great deal when it asks for so much change at once. The failure of the Race to the Top Competition may not be the best thing for the current administration, especially with November elections on the way.

Whether it is by posting a thank you video or giving scholarship money to nominated teachers, there are plenty of places to dedicate a moment of your time to pay homage. While stumbling around the many different locations on the Internet, I stumbled recently across the National Teachers Hall of Fame (NTHF). Any sports or music fan knows what an honor it is to be inducted into a hall of fame.

The organization, like in Cooperstown or Canton, inducts five new members every year from a large pool of nominated PreK-12 teachers. They are chosen for exemplary performance in and out of the classroom. Anybody can nominate a teacher, provided they follow the organizations criteria for being selected.

Founded in 1989 in Emporia, Kansas, by the Emporia State University and the surrounding city, the NTHF had a vision of recognizing what they felt to be the most vital occupation in the world. The organization as gained funding from nearly every educational funding organization, many corporations and businesses, and has even been commended by Bill Clinton for its dedication to its cause, according its Web site.

Other than a physical hall of fame, which has members from 32 states and the District of Columbia, the organization has a museum, a gallery of honored teachers, and even a display of how classrooms have changed over the years.

Visit the Web site and nominate a teacher today. If you have some free time, make your way to Emporia and see all of the great teachers who have been recognized over the years.