Have you ever had a favorite teacher? That one class that you could not wait for all day. The teacher is the best, makes everything fun, that is Mr. D’s class. That's his nickname, he asks us to call him that because you know, middle schoolers. Mr. Dinkeloo was a teacher who always had jokes and stories to tell. He is a young teacher and relates to the stuff that we like as kids. He was a teacher you could go up to and ask for advice if you needed it. Before my first day of seventh grade I thought, Ugh! Another year of middle school, I’m already tired of it. First class of the day was social studies with Mr. Dinkeloo. I was feeling tired and bored, and class had not even started yet. To my surprise when class started, the laughing began. I left class that day with a huge smile on my face. Everyday after that class was a good day; I never let anything get me down. I believe that Mr. Dinkeloo is the best teacher ever, with his positive attitude, great class environment, and his ability to make learning fun for the students.

I have never seen Mr. Dinkeloo without a smile on his face or cracking jokes. His positive mood is infectious. He is a person you always want to be around. Mr. Dinkeloo is the person that showed me that things happen everyday, but you need to move forward. He has inspired me to always find the good things in life and to not let the bad things affect your day. He shares his positive attitude in teaching. Mr. Dinkeloo’s personality is to share his positivity with the class as we learn everyday. There is never a dark and gloomy day in Mr.Dinkeloo’s class.

He always finds a way to make learning fun. As he makes his lesson plans, he thinks of things to say that relate to the lesson and allow his class to learn but to laugh and have fun at the same time. He would compare states to funny things like a dinosaur or make fun of the name of one. Just something small that could make someone's day. When we started to learn about South America, he found a rhyme on youtube about the countries and capitals. He played a section of it everyday for a week, and I will never forget it. In fact, that rhyme helped me in Spanish this year on a test. The day he told us, “If I didn’t teach, I would be a rapper” was the day I lost my mind. He would do stuff in class and think of rhymes. On Fridays, we would write down things on sticky notes, and he would rap about them. There was never a boring day in his class unless, he wasn't there.

You never felt uncomfortable in his class. Mr. Dinkeloo is a very approachable person, and he is always willing to answer any question you may have. He would give us plenty of time to finish work and explain everything in a way that helped us understand. Mr. Dinkeloo loves music. As we would work, he would put on music in the background to help us focus. Most of the songs were current. Sometimes we would sing until we had to get back to work. Mr. Dinkeloo would allow us to have input into our seating arrangement in class. We would write down who we wanted to sit with, so we were close to a friend for partner work, and this allowed us to be comfortable in his class.

Seventh grade was one of my favorite years. Mr. Dinkeloo has had a big impact on me and the way I face each day. His positive attitude is something I keep with me everyday, and try to share it with other people. He found a way to make learning fun and to make you feel right at home in his class. Having Mr. Dinkeloo has changed my life and taught me to look at life with a new perspective. Mr. Dinkeloo is an incredible teacher! I wish everyone had the opportunity to meet and learn from him, in order to share the joy I had with him in his class. For those reasons and more, Mr. Dinkeloo is my nomination for Educator of the Year.