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A few years ago, I had one of my hardest students to date. He would scream at the top of his lungs, elope any time he did not want to do work, hit/punch/throw anything in his way, and then some. My co-teacher and I tried our hardest to build a safe and caring community in our classroom in hopes it would break down his walls. It took a long time but one day while we were in a pull-out meeting, we get a call that he had an episode at recess, ran away, and they couldn't find him. I quickly get to our classroom to grab his emergency card information and he was sitting there in our class. It was only in that moment that I realized we were successful and moving in the right direction. It was a very validating moment in my teaching career.

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One of my previous student's families gave me a gift at the beginning of the year thanking me for how well prepared their child was for first grade.

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I have had at least one former student request to TA every single period that I teach this year (8 total), as well as several former students return to work on campus and specifically request to be in my classroom.

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My Memorable Teaching Experience - Courtney U.

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My Memorable Teaching Experience - Courtney U.

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Last year I had one student who was super shy, barely spoke, and only had a couple of good friends. I found out that he liked to catch geckos at recess time. So one day a huge gecko came out behind my teacher desk and I was asked him to catch it. He caught the gecko in like two minutes. He was the class hero after that and our designated gecko catcher. He definitely started speaking up more and felt more included in our class. That is also now a new classroom job :)

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We had an awards assembly. I chose one of my students that was new to the school to receive an award for her outstanding character. She was also homeschooled prior, so this was her first year in school. When her name was announced to receive her award, she was in shock and she told me, "I don't think I deserve this." She was a quiet leader, and continued to be humble as she was awarded. But the smile on her face made me so happy. I was so proud of her because of how much she grew as a student and person.

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I remember when I was student teaching .....participating in an off campus evacuation - a huge typhoon like rain started pouring rain (huge drops) out of nowhere and everyone (middle schoolers- teachers- security- just started running back to the school any which way they could - everyone was so soaked that parents were called to come get their students- I'll never forget it!!

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I'll never forget a student that I had a chance to work with. She was very shy and didn't like to go to school. Overtime, we built that relationship of trust and comfort which pushed her to want to go to school, talk to other students, and one day wants to become a teacher.

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A student returned from three years ago to share gratitude in my influence on her decision to continue into college (in line to become first generation college graduate)

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A student who was new to the school and was feeling nervous said he appreciated that he could share his ukulele playing with class.

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Anytime a parent or student comes back to my classroom and thanks me for making a difference. I recently had a student from the very first class I taught who is now a sophomore in high school, reach out to me and thank me for teaching them to be great writers because he is still using those skills!

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My most memorable experience(s) is when past students come to visit me. My first year students are now in high school and being able to see them and converse with them as teenagers is mind blowing. It makes me feel so proud.

But it's also nice when parents send you appreciation messages at the end of the year saying like "this is the first time my son said he's going to miss a teacher, so thank you so much for teaching him and making him feel confident." This is why we teach.

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Years ago, I spent a lot of time in class teaching students about making good choices for your mind, body and spirit. We talked often about making sure to rest when we are tired, but still trying our best to get things done.

I was lamenting to a student during a "talk story" break in class about how I was working my other job at night and I was so tired.

My student told me "Why don't you just stop". Stop what? "Stop working job it is giving you too much stress".

She was right. I quit that job and started taking PD courses to make more money. Best decision ever.

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During a faculty meeting, one of my former students shouted me out that he felt my classroom was a safe learning environment where the teacher cares about the total well being of their students.

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A memorable moment for me was when my whole class would remind each other of the power of yet! I taught them that we might not know things YET but we are going to do our best to learn it well! After a couple reminders, they were correcting each other when they heard someone say "I can't do ____" or this is too hard!

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My very volatile and aggressive student had a kindergarten buddy, and they'd have lunch together sometimes. One day he came back and told me he gave the kindergartener a gift because they were having a bad day. Made me so proud and emotional too.

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A typical DP/WB student scored a 100% ME on his math test. He worked so hard. I gave him a school-wide award and just seeing him in such overwhelming disbelief reminded me on why I do this job.

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Last year, we got to have our first May Day Program after the covid mess.  It was so fun seeing all our keiki perform their hula and meeting all their ohana!

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Last year, we got to have our first May Day Program after the covid mess.  It was so fun seeing all our keiki perform their hula and meeting all their ohana!

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When I first started my student teaching at 19 I was assigned to a 9th grade Biology class.  This was my favorite group of kids I've had and I learned so much from them.  While I continue my student teaching for the next two years at their school I was able to watch them grow up and was hired for my first real teacher job at their school and was able to have all of the students again for their senior year science class.  Seeing them come full circle as their teacher for both 9th and 12th grade was such a special thing for all of us and 4 have gone on to become science teachers themselves.

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Seeing my once kolohe kids graduate from school and become successful in the workforce/work

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My most recent memorable experience was watching the students from my first year of teaching "graduate" from elementary school. I felt so incredibly proud of them and so thrilled that I played a small part in getting them there.

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My most recent memorable experience was watching the students from my first year of teaching "graduate" from elementary school. I felt so incredibly proud of them and so thrilled that I played a small part in getting them there.

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Last year my student had a low view of herself regarding math. She had a fixed mindset and her belief was that she was not good at math. Anyway, she passed her SBA and she was happy :) -James Yanos

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I teach "forest kindergarten" and every year there are students who say "this is my first time in a forest." It's magical witnessing the students being immersed in nature, especially for the first time.

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This year one of my students was hesitant to do clay and was so worried to make a mistake. However, with encouragement from his table and myself, he created something amazing. He found a passion in doing clay and is in my room every morning at 7:30 do start working on his projects : )

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A memorable teaching experience for me is when my students get the aha moment of learning how to read. Being a first grade teacher they come in with a wide range of reading abilities and it is so rewarding when they leave reading at a higher level and so excited that they can borrow simple chapter books from the school library.

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I chaperoned a trip to NY and a student caught a flying pigeon with his hands in Central Park.

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LAST YEAR A STUDENT SAID THAT SHE USED TO WANT TO BE A MODEL BUT AFTER BEING IN MY CLASS SHE DECIDED TO BE A TEACHER INSTEAD.