I sing of the unknown teacher…. She communicates her own joy in learning and shares with boys and girls the very best treasures of her mind. She lights many candles with, in later years will shine back to cheer her. This is her reward.
--Henry Van Dyke __________________________________________________________________________________
Quick. How many of the teachers you’ve had can you name? I’ll give you 30 seconds. I’ll wait.
(… Ms. Smith – really! Mr. Jackson. Ms. Paintin. Mr. Wright. Mr. Hopper. Mrs. Meeks. Mr. Hoke.… Drat! Time’s up.)
How’d you do? Odds are you too failed to reach double digits, unless you have a photographic memory (and probably even if you do). Give yourself more time, even 30 minutes, and you’ll probably get only a few more on your list.
Why? Let’s face it, when it comes down to it, it doesn’t really matter.
Being a teacher, I understand the natural desire to be liked and the professional desire to have a lasting impact and to be remembered. But having students remember us is not why we get into this gig. Not one lesson plan ever has a TSWBAT (The Student Will Be Able To…) for this. What we want students to remember are the things that we teach them – the skills, the knowledge, the life lessons – and the confidence in their own self efficacy as learners and as doers in “The Real World.”
In many respects, it’s like being a parent. We spend our time preparing our children for life, and then watch them go. We can brag about their accomplishments, share in their sorrows, maybe even watch them become like us. Some will come back, but some never will. And that’s okay. As much as it may hurt, ultimately it’s about them, it’s not about us.
And then there’s the time limitation. In most cases, we have them for only 180 days, and in the upper grades for no more than a few hours a week. (Of course, when I think about it, that’s sometimes more time than a parent gets working two or three jobs to make ends meet for their family.) As with your own child, every moment is valuable.
So I don’t get too bugged when a student addresses me simply as “Mister,” or even mispronounces my name.
And that brings me to my edu-blog, for which I created the nom de plume The Unknown Teacher. The idea was inspired by ‘70s comic Murray Langston, best known for performing his stand-up routine with a paper bag over his head. Reportedly, he started the Unknown Comic gimmick because he was embarrassed about accepting a job on The Gong Show.
Unlike Langston, I am never embarrassed about my job. I love it, despite its faults and shortcomings. And I realize, after more than a decade in my chosen profession, that we need to discuss what works and what doesn’t to make education better for everyone. And yet, the reality is that it is easier for a teacher to teach about the 1st Amendment than to practice it. Everything that you say and do in such a public position can come back to bite you, especially if it runs counter to the ideas of the parents, the school administrators and/or the community.
For these reasons, plus the hectic nature of the school year, we’re left hearing most about education from those who are not – or never have been – a classroom teacher. That’s what we need to reform. We need more teacher voices in the public conversation, rather than confining them and their voices within the four walls of their classroom.
And as we teach students to be the change they want to see in the world, I decided this year that I need to practice what I teach, and use my writing voice to give what I hope will be a realistic and different perspective on the realities of education today. A teacher’s perspective.
The difference here being that I don’t put my name on it. But when it comes down to it, does that really matter? Reporters put their name on their writing every day. Take the opening quiz again and see how many of them you can name.
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