Ancient Teaching
Proverb: Making A Difference
When I was in teaching school the above three words were
thrown around by teaching students in my program and instructors alike, which caused
some professors to encourage us not to use these words when writing about
educational topics. These words describe
what every teacher hopes to accomplish by becoming a teacher and when
interacting with students. Each teacher
also defines what these words mean to them and usually we all have those
moments that make what we do rewarding.
For some it is the look on a child’s face when they finally
understand something that the teacher has struggled for days for them to
understand. For others it is looking at
testing data and seeing that their students achieve at a high level or one struggling student performed better
than they had before. And, for some
people it is simply the look of relief on a student’s face when they feel safe
in the classroom because their outside life is so unstable. We all know what those moments feel like and
those who have chosen this career path hope to one day feel the warmth that can only come from such a moment.
I recently saw some students who I had last year that had
many different issues that ranged from academic to personal and sometimes they
took those issues out on me as they went through the learning process. There was one time I even had one of these
students have a shutdown during one of my observations that made my
conversation with my principal less than exciting after it was over! We both rolled with the punches and dealt
with the issues we needed and by the end of the school year I had helped her
pass my class while processing some of her issues. My room was a safe haven, even though she
sometimes lashed out in anger at me or even just ignored me by putting her head
down when we had a rough day.
When I saw her a couple months ago, I didn’t notice that she
was hanging outside the high school that I used to teach at because I was on a
mission to see my friend and deliver some holiday goodies like I do every
year. She noticed me and both her and the other
student ran over to me excited to see me.
She was so overzealously joyful at seeing me that she grabbed me in this
huge bear hug and she would not let go!
She held me for several minutes crushing the life out of me as I stood
surprised at her joy, giving her a quick pat on the back. Once she was done giving me a hug she quickly
chattered on about other teachers, asked me questions about how I was doing,
and where I ended up since I had been cut from her school and had to transfer. She really cared about me as a person and
told me that I was one of the best teachers that she had ever had! Her joy was so overwhelming I stood there
barely knowing what to say, since I was really mentally struck. I asked a few questions before I told them I was
here to see one of the current teachers in their high school and they explained
how to find him, since the school had just opened a new building.
It was so nice to see these students develop into people
that had grown from what I had seen from the year before. Every day I went to work and sometimes wondered
why I was constantly giving my all?
Seeing these students made it all come full circle and remind me why I
became a teacher in the first place. I
wanted to make a difference. I wanted to
Inspire. I wanted to make people feel safe
and like they could be successful. Even
though at the time I felt like I was probably wasting my efforts or was just a
down right lousy teacher because I couldn’t get through to some of my students,
it was obvious that I had left an impression on some of them. I had done it. I had hit the pinnacle that all teachers
entering teaching programs hope for: To Make A Difference.
So next time you go back into the classroom, who knows who you
are inspiring or helping through a tough time just by being you. Today there is all of this modern talk about
testing and scores or achievement, but we forget the most important aspect of
teaching, which is interacting and dealing with people. If we cannot build relationships we cannot
teach content and students will never learn or perform on tests. Students are not numbers and are often
unpredictable. We are dealing with
individuals after all and even Hari Seldon’s futuristic mathematical
psychohistory would not be able to help us figure out how to solve everyone’s
problems in the classroom.
So remember, build those relationships. Help foster them and grow. You never know how much you really are
getting through. Or how long you will be
remembered and will be carried with a student after you no longer see them face
to face any more.
And, possibly the most important thing for all teachers to remember
in our darkest hours: It is worth it to
make the proverbial difference for someone out there that really needs it.
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