It's good that you are looking for ways to make your classes more interesting and keep the student's attention and meanwhile they are learning! :) I don't know the song that got Pete Seeger in trouble, but I have always loved "This land is your land". Thank you for posting the youtube video of it. I wish everyone in the USA would sing this song once a week and really think about the words. It's very interesting that you were influenced by Pete Seeger. My favorite teachers were my 1st grade and 5th grade teachers. They were very caring.
Thank you,
I'm glad your teachers were very caring. There are so many wonderful teachers today. When I look back the classroom teachers had a lot of responsibility, but personally I remember learning from others like the librarian, the janitor, the lunch lady, the nurse, the bus driver. These were my first pictures of adults outside of the family. And yeah, going to the Pete Seeger concert also changed the way I thought about adults.
As for the full time teachers, the one who stands out the most is my third grade teacher. She came from Ireland and wasn't afraid of anyone poking fun of her for being overweight or speaking with an accent. She encouraged me to write a letter to a singer I liked. Actually I wrote the letter to John Denver with a little picture of him playing guitar by the rocky mountains.
He sent a reply right away and said thank you for the picture and asked, "How did you know I liked mountains so much?" The thing I didn't like about that teacher is she kept the picture he sent and the letter and I never saw it again. Maybe I would have lost the letter like I lost other stuff, but at least I could say I was the one who lost it.
Oh my goodness @mineopoly! I wish you had the letter and picture! The teacher really should have given it to you! Guess what? John Denver was one of my favorite singers when I was growing up! I had his record albums and cassette tapes and later DVDs! Now I have a couple of his albums on my iPhone music! Hope you have a good week!