That got me thinking about past teachers who have impacted and changed my life. Several leap to mind: Mr. Jackson, my elementary school principal who helped teach a reading class and helped me love words; Mrs. Christianson, my freshmen English teacher who encouraged me to write; Mr. Matzke, my high school history teacher who helped me love history and events and to make sense of the past. But the one teacher who came to my mind immediately was my fourth and sixth grade elementary school teacher (and baseball coach) Mr. Mueller.
The instance that came to mind right away was from my sixth grade year. Mr. Mueller was always pushing the forefront of technology in his classroom. I recall using the Apple IIe computer in class to have Pac-Man tournaments. I also recall number crunch and Oregon Trail. I also remember him showing us a short film adaptation of "The Monkey's Paw," that just blew me away (I mean, what was knocking on the door in the final scene?).
But more than anything, I remember how we staged a mock version of "To Tell the Truth" and videotaped it. He assigned us roles. I just about dropped dead when I read my part: the game show host!
I was a chubby sixth grader who was more of an introvert than anything else. There was no way I wanted to be the center of attention!
In fact, I was trying to perfect the art of being invisible. A classmate of mine, Dale, who was the epitome of an extrovert, asked if we could switch roles, which was fine with me. (truth be told: Dale would have made a perfect host too).
When we approached Mr. Mueller with the idea of trading parts, he promptly shot it down. "I chose you for that role, Kurt," he said. "I know you can do it."
Again, I just about dropped dead. There was no way of getting out of this.
When we began rehearsing and filming, I was terrible. I had my lines memorized. But I was just reciting them without any personality at all.
After a couple takes, I remember Mr. Mueller, from behind the camera, asking a classmate what was wrong with me as a host. I'll never forget the answer: "He's boring!" It was at that moment that I learned an incredibly valuable lesson: to take constructive criticism.
After that, I began to inject personality and style into the role. And it wasn't perfect, but I actually began to enjoy the lead part and to have fun with it. My most vivid memory from the show itself is that not only did we present the show "To Tell the Truth" (replete with three versions of Abe Lincoln), but other students also did skits for commercial breaks. One of those was for some kind of pet food for pachyderms.
To spice things up, after the commercial skit was done, I tried to have a nice segue from the commercial to our show. I turned to the camera and smiled, "And you can be sure I'll give my pachyderm (insert the product title there)." It cracked everyone up. That was the most important lesson of my elementary schooling: to work hard at something and achieve success at something that I never would have ever tried on my own.
Mr. Mueller took a chance on me, forced me to go through with it, and allowed me to flounder a bit until I found my own voice and style and began to grow. I think had I not had that experience in sixth grade, I never would have considered becoming a teacher, where I use that humor, voice, and style every single day.
For that lesson, and for Mr. Mueller, I shall always be thankful.
Years later, in a strange twist of fate, I would actually get to teach Mr. Mueller some mock-lesson plans as part of a Minnesota History Grant project we both were in. His smile and fun banter always reminded me that he was proud of me. I hope this reminds him of how vital he has been to me. Here is one of the pictures from our history grant trip to the south.
Here we are at a famous Civil War battle scene. I was delighted when he asked to have his picture taken with his former student. Thanks for being a great teacher Mr. Mueller and for impacting my life so profoundly!
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