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In Honor of Teachers
September 19, 2011
I have gratefully adopted an attitude that celebrates wrinkles and stains. I see them as indications of a life well-lived.
-Nancy Rosenow, Encouragement Every Day
-Nancy Rosenow, Encouragement Every Day
"From the first through third grades, I went to school in a neighboring town because it was the school where my mother got her first teaching job. I was not a great student. I was slipping in and out of depression from a tumultuous family life that included the recent divorce of my parents. I began to grow invisible. My teachers didn’t seem to see me nor I them. (To this day, I can’t remember any of their names.) My work began to suffer so much that I was temporarily placed in the 'slow' class. No one even talked to me about it. They just sent a note. I didn’t believe that I was slow, but I began to live down to their expectations.
"When I entered the fourth grade, my mother got a teaching job in our hometown and I came back to my hometown school. I was placed in Mrs. Thomas’s class. There I was, a little nothing of a boy, lost and slumped, flickering in and out of being. She was a pint-sized firecracker of a woman, with short curly hair, big round glasses set wider than her face, and a thin slit of a mouth that she kept well-lined with red lipstick.
"On the first day of class, she gave us a math quiz. Maybe it was the nervousness of being the 'new kid,' but I quickly jotted down the answers and turned in the test — first. 'Whoa! That was quick. Blow, we’re going to call you Speedy Gonzales.' She said it with a broad approving smile, and the kind of eyes that warmed you on the inside.
"She put her arm around me and pulled me close while she graded my paper with the other hand. I got a couple wrong, but most of them right. I couldn’t remember a teacher ever smiling with approval, or putting her hand around me, or praising my performance in any way. It was the first time that I felt a teacher cared about me, saw me, or believed in me. It lit a fire in me. I never got a bad grade again. I figured that Mrs. Thomas would always be able to see me if I always shined. I always wanted to make her as proud of me as she seemed to be that day. And, she always was."
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Comments (7)
Displaying 5 of 7 Comments [ View all ]http://magdalenaspalencia.blogspot.com/
United States
We need more articles like this one and more teachers like Mrs Thomas.
Please visit my Educational blog!
http://magdalenaspalencia.blogspot.com/
OMEP-USA
Washington, DC, United States
I read this EED at the same time I was reading the introduction to "Seen & Heard: Children's Rights in ECE." Hall & Rudkin point out that many adults-parents and teachers included-don't see children as human beings, but as "human becomings." I am convinced they are right and that we must take children seriously, even very young infants. Look how Mr. Blow has remembered his feelings all the years since his earliest years in school. We all have memories that have stayed with us for a lifetime. Look at a child. See a real person!
Head Start of Washington Co.
Hagerstown, MD, United States
A wonderful article that reminds us that teaching isn't just a job but a passion that many of us share. You may not see the boutiful harvest of your work until years later.
Madera, California, United States
I teach Child Development at a local City College in our area. Part of the class assignments incorporate written reflections from the students. Almost always the written reflections bring to the surface the students both postive and negative educational learning experiences. Education experiences stemming from early, elementary, middle and secondary.
These reflections are heartfelt in both the expressed positive and negative teacher characteristics. Postive characteristics such as smiles, laughter, shared conversations, calmness, respect and support in learning while the negative reflect harshness, threats, sarcasism, irritability, control and punitive attitude.
Currently, at least in California, the teacher evaluation process is a main topic. Descriptors such as standardized performance, standardized test scores, student performance, assessment methods, state standards, and benchmark tests appear to be the characteristic norms for teacher evaluations. At least according to The Fresno Bee dated September 18, 2011 in the article, "Teachers face grading on student test scores".
I believe California needs to look at the work done by Dr. Tim Bartik, Senior Economist at Upjohn Insititute. Dr. Bartik talks about both "soft skills and hard skills" in relationship to a child's education. According to First Steps - Growing Every Child's Potential an article entitled "Economist Tim Bartik Refutes the Skeptics" dated August 9, 2011, Dr. Bartik discusses the importance of the "development of soft skills -- social and character skills such as how to get along with peers and teachers, self-conficence, and the ability to plan". Dr. Bartik states, "research shows that even when there is no measureable impact on test scores in middle and high school, participants of quality early childhood programs are more likely to graduate from high school and go to college and earn more as adults." Dr Bartik believes that is due to the development of soft skills achieved in a quality preschool program.
Though Dr. Bartink's main focuses is economic outcomes in regards to investing in early childhood quality programs which I am a strong advocate. Dr. Bartik gives a validate claim to the social and emotional importance in an individual's overall education. We know a foundation is stronger when supported from the bottom--up. Does it not appear that evaluating all teachers not only on hard skill learning outcomes but soft skill learning outcomes of high importance? If hard and soft skill outcomes were of equal importance possibly the characteristics of Mrs. Thomas as described by Charles M. Blow would be the norm.
United States
Thank you for this. It is all about the human connection and knowing someone cares, isn't it? I don't think you can really learn without it.
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