When I was about 13 or 14 I had an English teacher who made a deal with me that I could get out of doing all of the year's regular work if I would write a short story a week and on Friday read it to the class.

My major was Fine Arts and Education thinking I would become an Art Teacher. I couldn't visualize myself as an art teacher thinking how it wouldn't work.

Without any doubt at all teacher quality is the fundamental differentiator. Not just incidentally of education but I would argue probably the biggest single differentiator of success for the nations of the 21st Century.

In high school I was Mr. Choir Boy. I had solos I was helping out the tenors with their parts and our choir teacher would ask me what songs we should do.

If it wasn't for my drama teacher I wouldn't be here right now.

My second grade teacher told me I would never graduate high school. That I was going to be a juvenile delinquent.

I'm sure any vocal teacher that listens to me would rather cut my throat than do anything - I do everything all wrong - but I think for me that's the best - because I don't think I have a voice so I think what I project would be style - if I learned to sing I'd lose my style.

There happened to be guitar classes at the college and there was a guitar teacher there with whom I used to play. In addition I also would go out into country schools and teach little kids basic guitar and singing a few times a week.

I started studying music at the age of five and a half. My older sister was taking piano lessons. When her teacher left our apartment I would get up on the piano bench and start picking out the notes that were part of my sister's lessons.

I was very studious too much. I would never go out at weekends. I was very serious. You should have seen me in class - I was blushing and sweating every time the teacher asked me something.

If you put down a list of jobs doctor lawyer janitor teacher or movie star everybody would pick the movie star. And why? So you could lie around the pool drink margaritas and send money to your parents. So that's what I did.

I started the class late. The teacher said I would have to learn as much in half a year that the others learned in a year. I did it.

If you told me when I was a teen that I would end up being a teacher I would have said you're out of your mind because quite frankly I hated school.

I had this wonderful career and thought I would retire as a teacher.

I'm sure that had I not been a coach I would have been some form of a teacher.

I would take William H. Macy as a teacher any day of the week. He's incredible. He's got a lot of hard-earned experience.

In my teens I developed a passionate idolatry for a teacher of English literature. I wanted to do something that he would approve of more so I thought I should be some sort of a scholar.