GOOD FRIDAY!
Honestly, I was aprehensive about having class this morning because I am having a severe case of Spring Fever, but it was wonderful.
Thank you to Nancy Rollison for the beautiful song/poem, Nancy M., Scott, Lee and Maria for the great strategy shares, and to Elizabeth for sharing the Four Letter Word book with us. I learn so much from you all every time we meet. I love the sense of community that we have established.
"If we have lost the heart to teach, how can we take heart again? How can we re-member who we are, for our own sake and the sake of those we serve?" p. 21
Please tell me what you think about the first chapter of The Courage to Teach.
8 comments:
“The Heart of a Teacher” resonated with me in many areas. I have always believed in the importance of a teacher’s having a strong sense of personal identity in his or her work. The best teachers I’ve had were always “good people” who genuinely cared about the subject and their students. They never followed the “technique du jour,” and that has colored my outlook on the many futile practices that I feel over the years have been forced on teachers. Having seen it all come and go, I would laugh at some of the techniques/situations if they weren’t so toxic.
“How many teachers inflict their own pain on their students, the pain that comes from doing what never was, or no longer is, their true work?” I have seen teachers and administrators who were so burned out that they took it out on their students and co-workers on a daily basis. According to this article, times exist when teachers “work for money rather than meaning” but I am glad that statement comes with the caveat that teachers are not exempt from the responsibility of “checking the violence we do to others and ourselves” in that situation. I personally cannot justify continuing to teach under those kinds of circumstances.
Teaching is a huge responsibility. It truly is an occupation where the private and public domains meet. Teachers affect people forever, for good or for evil. Those who come into the field hoping to improve people’s lives need to do everything possible to hold on to that goal. The knowledge that we teach students and not just a subject is vital to our succes
I agree with Nancy M. whole-heartedly...I have often said that I cannot think of anything I would rather do that would also pay the bills... This is not to be taken that I am doing it for the money, but let's face it...hanging out on the boat, reading a good book, etc would be fun, but I don't think anyone is going to pay me.
With that said, I think we need to remember we are teaching students, they will make mistakes, they are teenagers, and often would rather being something else, but it is up to us to see through all that and do our best to reach them.
I have witnessed teachers who reach the age of retirmement to only hang on for "one more year" for the money. I am not sure who is more miserable...the teacher, their students, or their colleagues. Everything comes back to this is not the way it used to be...and you know what...they are right, but that does not mean that it is all bad. Look for the good, it is often there...
This reading had particular value to me as I have recently doubted whether or not to continue in the teaching profession. I'm sure that most teachers struggle at some point in their careers with these concerns: should I choose something else or give it another try. Each time I ask myself this question, I seem to find the answer which places value in teaching. After reading "The Heart of a Teacher", I agreed that the teacher's influence is ongoing. As the author stated: "Their power is in their capacity to awaken truth within us, a truth we can reclaim years later by recalling their impact on our lives." The people who have had the greatest impact on my life were all teachers. It wasn't the subject, but the integrity of each person. I admired the way that they lived their lives. I liked the comments on the French teacher. The article described her identity with the culture and language. It reminded me of a teacher's love for her subject. Most of all, it reminds me of why I chose this profession. Other points to the article that I liked were the comments on evolving as a teacher. My idea of what a teacher should be had very much evolved over the past few years. Instead of directing lots of knowledge to students, I am more aware of what students need in their growth and development.
While reading, I felt many of the emotions expressed by Nancy M., MSW, and Bonnie. In response to Bonnie's comment about recent doubts, I offer a similar experience: My second year teaching seventh grade, a sudden realization that my roomful of students needed far, far more than I could give--especially when the majority of them acted as if they didn't need me at all--hollowed me. For about 24 hours I asked myself, "Why am I even doing this? This isn't what I wanted to do with my life?" (And that last part is true: I have always wanted to be a professional writer, never a teacher, for I believed I lacked the patience necessary for the occupation. As for now, I still want to be a writer, and I will be soon enough, but the future I imagine also includes teaching, even if only part time.) In any case, after about 24 hours of doubt, a student, a troubled boy whose shabby attire and poor hygiene drew ridicule from his classmates, approached me in front of his peers and asked sincerely for my help. And his question answered my own.
Therein lies the truth of Palmer's piece. Somewhere within every teacher's heart, there must flicker and flare a passion for helping, in whatever possible way, these other human beings who depend on us, even when they don't want to, even when they convince themselves that they don't need us, for those are the ones who need us most.
I also find in Palmer and interesting explanation for my initial dislike of the lockstep curriculum and pacing guides I received my first year as a middle-school teacher. Fanning through those pages, their columns of standards and check-off boxes, their clear emphasis on covering content as a way to cover our own cabooses, I felt my spirit withdraw, as if this would be my future: simply skimming the surface of life so that I could say I had "taught" it all, in reality teaching nothing. That retraction in my gut, I realize now, post-Palmer, was my inner teacher telling me, "This is not you."
How nice to read someone who can put into words, and thereby bring order to, the mess of emotions that so often dog-pile our hearts.
(Sorry if I'm overreaching. I haven't written for myself in a while.)
The most important element in any classroom is the teacher. All studies show that it is the teacher--not technology--not textbooks--not fancy bells and whistles--that make the real difference. But it also means that a bad teacher can be disastrous. Sometimes I wish I had the nerve to tell some teachers they need to pursue other avenues. If you hate teaching, you should leave the classroom.
From the moment that Mr. Newman referenced this novel in his strategy share, I was struck with a sudden sense of familiarity. Then, it hit me. As I was graduating high school and embarking on my next journey to attend college and become an educator, I was taken aside by my Teacher Cadet teacher and handed a small gift. Inside was a copy of "The Courage to Teach" with passages already highlighted and discussed in her own writing. The words then had nothing off which to resound, but the subsequent years have made me understand Palmer's message. These past two years have been anything but easy. Everyone always said that the first few years would be the hardest, but I had no idea what that really meant. After my first year, I was already questioning my devotion to education. I felt like I had been dragged under the wheel and thrown to the proverbial wolves. It seemed hopeless and meaningless. I became so tired of always feeling so disappointed or discouraged. I even convinced myself that I was truly not cut out for this profession if after only one year I was already so jaded. However, Palmer's words made me realize that the very fact that I was so emotionally involved was a sign of my true devotion to teaching. The time to worry is when I fail to connect to my students and don't care. As long as I am affected by my struggles, I still have the heart of a teacher. Phew!
The Heart of a Teacher
I suppose The Courage To Teach should be required reading for all students contemplating entering the education profession. For such a time as this, courage is definitely needed. In the chapter The Heart of a Teacher, the author hits the nail on the head when she writes “good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher. Of course that is saying a mouthful. How many students claim that are not learning because the teacher doesn’t like them? On the other hand, how many others say they learn a lot because the teacher makes learning fun? The integrity of a teacher shows students that the teacher is really interested in them and what they are learning.
The identity of a teacher comes through to a student when teachers are able to convey to the student the relevance of what is being taught. Many students thrive when they figure out the proverbial question, “when will I ever use this stuff.” When teachers are able to show students real life applications, the identity of the teachers shines through. You then hear comments like “he is the smartest person I know,” or “I wonder why she is teaching instead of…” In this day of school report cards, NCLB legislation, PACT scores, end of course tests etc., we need teachers who are truly called to the profession. We need people who care about young people and what they go through. We need people with tough skins who are slow to anger. The heart of a teacher must be open enough to receive, but strong enough to give all that is needed to make students succeed. And that is truly a tough bill to fill.
The teaching and true self bit & the section about mentors--remind me of my first asst. principal who did all the teacher evaluations. He had a bit that he'd talk about with all the new teachers--our teacher personality and our teaching personality. Now, I can't remember how he described mine--(probably because I was traumatized by the Vietnam stories that went with every post-evaluation meeting--which was also followed by tears in the faculty bathroom). Anyway, I've obviously survived and often think about ol' Famiano.
He was the first person to explain that teaching is so much work because it is so much of ourselves. When we start not being ourselves and when we start disliking ourselves, it's time to move it on along--because our teaching personalities will lose any bit of effectivenesss.
I also like Lee's bringing up the dislike for the lock-step curriculum. How can that fit in with teaching and teacher personalities--which are such a part of effectively reaching students. If we're not ourselves, we're not effective. If we're not effective, the students are not effective.
Post a Comment