I have been very lucky in my career as a student. I have had a lot of very good teachers at all grade levels and in all subject areas. I always remember a few English teachers I have had because I love English. But there is another teacher I remember too-- math teacher called Mr. M.

Mr. M. taught me Algebra II, the subject itself is not that memorable, but Mr. M. really is. It is not because he is the smartest mathematician I have ever known, which he probably is, or that he was available to his students at any hour, which he was, but rather it was his excitement about, and commitment to, our learning.

Mr. M. really enjoys math. He is excited about it, and that excitement is contagious. Mr. M. sees math as a story, told with numbers, and he tells the story with the finesse and enthusiasm of any great storyteller. He knows the history of theorems, and tells them in a way that makes a 16-year old girl, (who, by the way, is more worried about Friday night's party than a man called Pythagoras), laugh. He makes the "Story of Math" as enjoyable and relevant as it can be for a class full of non-math types. It must be really hard, bringing math to life to a room full of teenagers, but Mr. M. does it every single day. He is never off when he stands before a classroom; if he is, he never lets it show. His excitement genuine, and for 42 minutes every day, he makes you excited too.

Another reason Mr. M. is so memorable is that he is truly committed to every student's learning. For most teachers, math is not subjective--answers are right or wrong---not so in Mr. M's class. I can remember one test where I answered maybe 70% of the questions, and I know I did not get all of the ones that I answered right. But for 100% of the questions I showed my work. I probably earned about a 50% on the test. If Mr. M. had just looked at the answers, I surely would have failed. But Mr. M. read every letter and number I put on the page--even scratch work that was crossed out or partially erased. He read it all, commented on it, and graded my test accordingly. I got an "85% SEE ME" on the exam, I was shocked, to say the least. When I approached Mr. M. after class that day he said to me, "you are smarter than you think, you know more than you believe, trust yourself." I spent an hour after school that day going over my test with Mr. M. I quickly realized that I could do every problem on that exam, I was surprised, but Mr. M. wasn't. He believed in my ability, even when I didn't. He refused to let me give up until I had mastered all that I could. When I asked him why he gave me such a good grade on the test he told me he didn't give grades, students earn grades. He also told me that I would never feel successful as a student until I recognized that grades are not the most important thing, learning is. I believed that because he did. He didn't worry about class averages, or high scores, he worried about how much we learned, and how well we learned it. In turn, that is what we worried about as well.

When I graduated from high school I got a graduation card in the mail from Mr. M. I was surprised, I didn't have a class with him senior year, and we weren't really that close. He congratulated me on graduating, on the scholarships I had won, and wished me luck at school. In talking to my friends I realized that Mr. M. had sent a personalized graduation card to every student he had ever taught in high school. It must have taken a lot of time to do it, but he took the time, just like he took the time to read my scratch work a few years before. I should have said thank you. I probably should have said it a million times for all of the extra help, personal attention, and excitement Mr. M. brought to the classroom. But being a teenager with different priorities and not a lot of grace all of the time, I took it all for granted. Looking ahead to my career as a teacher, I wish to say thank you now. Thank you for teaching me all you could about math, but thank you even more for teaching me that learning is the most important thing. You have inspired me to be the kind of teacher who shares her excitement and love for subject area, but shares her love for students and teaching and learning even more.

Liza Prestileo
American University