The Teacher That Made a Difference in my life…Madame. Madame was my French teacher from Grades 1-8 when I was in Ontario Catholic School. She was an exceptional teacher. Not just in the classroom…but in preparing me for life.
The Teacher That Made a Difference
Madame (actually Madame Karijian but we always called her Madame) was a staple in my childhood. Looking back on my education…she was the best teacher I ever had. Not only did she provide a solid education in French (I’m fairly bilingual now – due to her!) she taught me about striving to be my best.
Boy, Madame was demanding (no fooling around in her classroom!). Yet, she was fair and kind (her smile was not given easily but it was given with her whole heart). She understood struggle and frustration a child can feel with a subject…she had an open door policy where you could always get extra help without judgement. Madame encouraged us to be curious, attentive, thoughtful, and productive.
Madame shared her experience about coming to Canada, often with our class, these were my first real introductions into diversity, immigration, social justice, and life outside Canada. She opened our eyes to a world outside our neighbourhood. Any time someone groaned about reading another chapter she gently guided us on empathy, understanding, and not taking things for granted – some kids in other countries would LOVE the opportunity to read another chapter.
Madame created an environment in our classroom which was safe, supportive, and engaged. She instilled in us a sense of community that we would take into our adult personal and professional lives. (Side note: my Gr. 8 class is currently planning a 30 year anniversary get together. Proof the community Madame created lives on).
Ontario Public Catholic School
The core values of fairness, compassion, respect, concern for social justice and the environment are made a priority in their classrooms. Learning and talking about these core values help reinforce and teach lessons for life; lessons that extend beyond the reach of the classroom. All of us benefit from this approach.
Visit http://www.catholicteachers.ca/LessonsForLife and follow #CatholicTeachers or #Lessonsforlife on social media to learn more about values-based education.
My kids now go to Ontario French Public Catholic School (French because my husband is French. Catholic because of my positive experience from my school days).
Disclosure: This post is in partnership with the Ontario’s Catholic Teachers. As always, the opinions in this post are my own.