Trust a Teacher

Perk up your listening ears and you will notice that everyone has an opinion about teachers. Parents have strong viewpoints on which teachers are "good" at their child's school though Parent A and Parent B might strongly disagree on which teacher is the best.

Politicians are forever searching for a way to measure good teaching. Should good teaching be rewarded with better pay? How, then, will we measure good teaching? And, of course, bad teachers should be forced from the classroom!

I purposely use the vague and almost meaningless words "good" and "bad" to introduce the idea that perhaps we need to look at teaching and teachers through a different lens.

What I think it boils down to, in the most basic way, is relationship. Teaching is one half of a relationship.

The teacher-student relationship is archetypal. It is certainly not dependent on a classroom or a school. As I think deeply about teachers and teaching and what I consider to be a good teacher, I keep coming back to trust. As a student (or a parent of a student) I must give over a certain amount of trust to the teacher. This is what, I believe, is being eroded with our personal and societal preoccupations with measuring and quantifying teaching.

As a teacher, you must earn your student's trust. You must commit to do the hard work necessary to be worthy of that trust. You must reinvent yourself, your practice, your lessons, your knowledge. You must deeply understand the way in which each class and every student is unique. To be a true teacher is to want to be in relationship with students, to realize that you teach human beings, not subject matter.

On the flip side, teachers are also special and unique. Teachers are not machines. We are not robots. We can not be expected to talk alike, work alike, manage classrooms alike, have the same notions of what is most important for our students.

As a student and a parent I have my ideas of what good teaching looks like, sounds like, and feels like to me. I also try to remind myself to put these expectations aside, to trust a teacher who may, in many ways, differ from my ideal of a good teacher. Each caring teacher imparts a different lesson.

From time to time I hear the question, "Will computers replace teachers?" With good software and instructional media, can't I learn whatever I want to learn without a teacher? Good instructional design (designed by humans!) is an excellent way to reach learners. However, learners are individuals and instructional software and materials can only reach so far into a learner's soul.

Will computers replace spouses? Will computers replace having children?

"Computers are magnificent tools for the realization of our dreams, but no machine can replace the human spark of compassion, love and understanding." -Louis Gerstner

A story-

Some years back I wanted to learn to play the guitar. I envisioned singing my favorite songs and strumming easily in accompaniment. It was difficult and frustrating to be a beginner, and I had to tap into everything I knew about being a learner.

First of all, I found a teacher. But after weeks of lessons, practice, chords and scales, I still couldn't play a song. I began to get antsy. I started to question my teacher.

When he finally taught me a song, it was not a song I chose, but a song he chose. I was beginning to really question whether I had the right teacher. Other friends with other teachers had learned to play songs early-on. Why was he making me suffer? Why did my first song have to be a difficult jazz song? Why, why, why???

Being a teacher myself, and one who reveres the teacher-student relationship, I calmed myself. Trust him, I thought. He is the teacher. You are the student. He is your guide; you must trust him. Finally he allowed me to choose a song. I chose "Here Comes the Sun" and boy, was I excited. I will tell you that no beginning guitar student has ever played such a complicated and lovely rendition of "Here Comes the Sun." Not just chords, my teacher taught me every note and nuance of the song. The proof came when I played for my friend, Scott, an extremely accomplished guitar player. Scott had been playing guitar for decades, and had not taken a lesson for many years. When he heard his beginner friend play "Here Comes the Sun," he requested my teacher's phone number.

The other day a friend told me she was interested in trying yoga. I mentioned how much I like my studio, that she might want to try a class. She said she had a yoga program on her wii fit. Now, I have to admit I don't have a wii fit, so I don't speak from personal experience. But it seems to me that while a wii fit might be a decent tool for getting a little exercise, I have a hard time imagining how the wii fit could hold a candle to a real yoga teacher who sets the mood, imparts bits of wisdom, adjusts certain poses and guides the journey. I can't imagine the wii fit having a passion for yoga. I have trouble imagining a new student falling in love with yoga through the generic program that is created basically the same for everyone. I will take a real teacher over a machine any day of the week.

I Heart Teachers

This is a first for me -two blog posts in one day. Well, well. 

Ever since my recent post about lame excuses I've been feeling the need to clarify. One thing that never fails to rankle me is reading/hearing/otherwise being exposed to comments that generalize about teachers and, after throwing them into one big group, bash them. 

Teacher bashing is ubiquitous. I am overly sensitive to it, so maybe I notice it where someone else wouldn't, but trust me, it is almost considered acceptable, at least in the United States, to talk about teachers as if they are less than other professionals. 

So it bothered me to think that my post could add fuel to that fire. Often when I read or hear talk of how "schools are this" or "teachers are that" I am quick to jump in and point out the fact that one can't generalize about an entire profession made up of millions of people. Each school, each classroom, each teacher is different. I have long believed that part of the problem is that because most people have had personal experience with schools as students, they feel qualified to judge and think they know what it is to be an educator. Not so. And, of course, many people believe that "anyone can teach" or (and this one is the WORST) "those who can do, those who can't..." I invite whoever believes those things to go ahead and try it out.

Yesterday was National Teacher Appreciation Day or some such obscure holiday. Yesterday was also "contract signing for next year day" at the private school where I work. Ah, the irony. Yes, I got a raise...a raise infinitely smaller than the increase in gas prices. What % of nothing does it take to actually equal something?

But alas, this is not a post to whine and cry about how hard I work and how little I am paid. That's common knowledge, right? I must deserve to make so little money because I am__________ (choose as many as apply) noble, stupid, unable to get a real job, so lucky to have my summers off.

Why do I even care what people think of teachers? Why is it so important to me to elevate the status of the teaching profession? Maybe there are a lot of "lame excuse-making teachers" who just got into teaching to boss around smaller, younger people and take summer vacations. 

But that's not what I see. 

I guess I have been lucky to know teachers who are highly educated, deeply caring, well read, professional, resourceful and committed to a profession that allows them to make a difference in the world.

Yes, I would like to see more innovation and less excuses. But it goes both ways.  As teachers, we need to have high expectations for our students so that they will rise to meet them. As a society, we need to have high regard for teachers so that we teachers will hold ourselves and our profession in high regard. I'm not making excuses for the excuse-makers, but when people are exposed time and again to negative expectations and hearing how the best and brightest leave teaching because they can do better...well, what can we expect?

My questions: What can teachers do to elevate the teaching profession? What can other members of society do to elevate the teaching profession? Is this view of teachers unique to the United States? 

My Daring Dozen - the first 6

Read the Original Daring Dozen Post on Edutopia

We find evidence that the ranks of reformers are growing and their pleas for technology integration, project learning, integrated curriculum, collaborative learning, new methods of assessment are having more impact. The trenches are full of folks whose courage, imagination and inexhaustible spirit are bringing enlightenment to education, sometimes one school or classroom at a time. 

Thanks, Lucy Gray, for asking the question, "Who is your personal daring dozen?"

I can say for certain that I wouldn't still be in the field of education if not for the amazing teachers who've inspired me along the way. So, without further ado, my daring dozen:

1) Samantha Glickman - I was so fortunate to have worked with Sam early in my teaching career. She took me under her wing and taught me everything I know about classroom management. She puts every bit of her heart and soul into teaching. She looks at every challenge as an opportunity to try something new. I also credit Sam for getting me into teaching with technology. Back in the 90's, before tech in schools was the 'big thing,' Sam scraped together 4 mismatched computers and a old t.v. with an s-video adaptor to make a technology center in the classroom. If it will benefit her students, Sam will find a way to make it happen. Sam now teaches 4th grade at Noble School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio and her class is pen pals with the 2nd grade class at my school. Yes, good old fashioned pen pals writing letters with the pen and paper and sending by snailmail. And they love it. Not everything has to be high-tech to motivate.

2) Susan Killebrew -I worked with Susan around the same time I started working with Sam. The three of us worked in an unbelievably challenging school with probably one of the worst, most ineffective principals of all time. There is no way I would have survived and remained in teaching without them to teach me, share with me, lead by example. Creative, resourceful, brilliant, and true to her ideals, Susan is the type of person who inspires you to want to be a better person. Currently Susan teaches Spanish at Peralta Elementary School in Oakland, CA. 

3) Loret Peterson - Another amazing teacher with whom I have been fortunate to work. Loret taught a 4th/5th grade class in San Francisco and may very well still be teaching there. We worked together for the California Reading and Literature Project. Loret is another educator who was integrating technology long before it was common.  As part of a project on immigration, Loret wrote a grant to buy several, digital cameras for her classroom. She sent the cameras home with students who interviewed family members. She then used the grant money to pay a consultant to come in and help the students use photoshop to create beautiful, artistic posters combining the photos they took and their written interviews. Done with one computer and a desire to do something different. Just one example of why Loret is in my dozen. 

4) Kathleen Ferenz - One of the teachers in my masters program, Kathleen Ferenz was one of the only teachers I had who actually modeled the type of teaching she advocated. Her class was one of the best classes I took. I learned a lot, and it definitely impacted the way I teach today. 

5) Kim Glasgal - Not an educator by trade, but making a difference nonetheless. Kim is my friend and my assistant at work. When I first took the job as a tech coordinator last year, I was completely and totally overwhelmed. To write about that would be a post (or several) in itself. Knowing that Kim was a tech-savvy type I asked her if she might be willing to come in and help me out a bit. (She is also a parent at the school.) She agreed. I had one project in mind that I just didn't have the time to deal with. I thought she could help get it going. She spent uncountable hours as an unpaid volunteer and took over many headaches, I mean projects, for me. She was so awesome that the school hired her as my assistant. This year she helps a lot with the students and teacher training as well, and she is wonderful. 

6) Deb Kuhr- Deb is the middle school English teacher at my school. I love the fact that she loves to learn and truly gets excited about teaching. On my very first day at the school she came up to me and said, "Ok, here is what I'm teaching this year. I'd love to integrate technology. What ideas do you have?" If only every teacher I worked with had her openness to trying new things, not only in the classroom, but for herself as well. When we had Kaleidoscope Day this year, a day fully devoted to the arts, all of the classes came through the computer lab to use pixie or image blender to create a self portrait. The teachers were required (for the one and only time all year) to come with their classes. Most of the teachers just sat and did other things while the students were working on the project, but not Deb. She wanted to do the same project that the students were doing so she, too, could learn to use the software. 

It's late, and I'm tired, but I like to publish what I write. So, I'm going to stop at a half dozen, and I will finish with the next half dozen real soon. This was a great exercise, really makes you feel good to focus on the good stuff. 

Thanks, Lucy, for the suggestion.