teacher essay

HA English 9
OReilly
My Teachers: A First Person Essay

As a class, we have read Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare in which we have seen how Juliet and Romeo both appear to lack adult figures to guide them through their lives. Perhaps due to this lack of wise “teachers,” Romeo and Juliet are doomed to an early death. While teachers do not necessarily have such vital roles in most students’ lives, teachers do provide an essential contribution to the mental, physical, and sometimes emotional and spiritual life of a young, maturing child.  Now you will write your own first person narrative account of the most life-changing teachers in your life. This essay is a portfolio essay fulfilling your first person narrative essay requirement. The portfolio is a graduation requirement.

Your essay will have a minimum of five paragraphs discussing teachers you have had. Your opening paragraph will provide a brief introduction and a thesis statement. Your thesis (green) will provide a strong but general statement about your three teachers. You will have a plan (green) in which you briefly outline the three qualities of your teacher that you will discuss in your body paragraphs. Your three body paragraphs will each describe three distinct points about your teachers, and your closing will restate your key points and leave the reader with a sense of closure or with an insight to ponder.

GREENS: Types of thesis statements and plans:
A power statement:
° I am happy to say that I had three unique teachers each of whom has changed the course of my life forever by teaching me self-control, self- confidence, and patience.
° My teachers have taught me three important precepts that will forever influence how I think and feel. My third grade teacher, my Spanish teacher, and my minister have all changed my life forever.
A FAN BOYS thesis statement
° Some people say that dedicated, creative, and rigorous teachers are few, but I have been lucky enough to experience three rigourous and inspiring teachers who have changed my life. I learned artistry and self-control from Ms. Umbrage, Mr. Snape, and Ms. McGonaggle.
° Many people have been lucky enough to have had inspiring teachers in school, but my most influential teachers have been members of my own family: my mother, my uncle, and my sister.
° I have had wise and caring teachers in my life, so I have learned self-control, self- confidence, and patience.
The Three Body Paragraphs:
You will have at least one paragraph devoted to each teacher. Do not forget, each paragraph must relate back to and support your thesis. YELLOWS: Furthermore, each body paragraph must have a topic sentence that makes a unique point about each teacher. It is not enough to say, “The second great teacher I had was Mr. Moomoo.” Rather, say something akin to “Mr. Moomoo taught me to stop whining and get to work.”

REDS CREATIVITY ALERT!!!! Essays can be creative!!!! Newsflash!!! The creativity is in your reds. When you describe your teacher and your experiences with your teacher. Go back to being with that teacher in your mind. Replay the scene. How did you feel? What went through your mind? How did you change? Describe, show DON”T TELL, use visual imagery. Take me into the scenes with your teacher that SHOW me why this teacher changed your life.

The Closing Paragraph:
The closing paragraph briefly restates the thesis and the key ideas and leaves the reader with a sense of closure and, perhaps, some insight.


Caveats:
Sometimes teachers are not necessarily positive or loving influences. Since it is possible to learn difficult, but crucial, life lessons from negative experiences and people, these kinds of “anti-teachers” may be discussed in your essay.

Inanimate phenomena can teach and inform. In the past students have discussed how nature, the ocean, certain books, Buddhism, or Christianity have been their teachers.







Turn this rubric in with your paper for three (3) points
How to get an A on your 45-point paper:

5 points -_______ format: correct typed heading, font size and type, margins, your last name and page number typed on the right hand corner of every page.
10 points_______ Opening paragraph has a brief opening (blue) and a clear thesis statement, including a plan, (green) introducing the three teachers or three concepts taught by your teachers.
15 points _______ Body paragraphs each have a topic sentence (yellows) stating a distinct and unique attribute of your teacher and/or what he taught you. Each paragraph has plenty of evidence, examples, and/or explanations (reds) proving your topic sentences. Your reds SHOW. They don’t TELL.
5 points _______The closing restates thesis and topics and leaves the reader with closure. Do not introduce a new thought in your closing; instead, deepen or expand on previously mentioned ideas to leave the reader thinking.
5 points _______Common mechanical errors will lose you one point a piece up to five points. You will lose one point for every CFB, CIE, VPR, Avoid SW and LWC, such as: “He was a great teacher who taught me many things.”  1PV is OK in a first person narrative such as this assignment, but avoid 2PV like the plague.