A teacher reflects on important happenings
Published: October 18, 2009
I used to go through a box of chalk every week. I needed a chalkboard and a library, not a $60 textbook.
I bought 200 cheap pens and three boxes of college-ruled paper. All I wanted the kids to do was show up.
I wish they wouldn’t eat the pens, but they do. I wish they all took vitamins, but they don’t. I wish they all came from loving homes, got enough rest, were well-fed, wore clean clothes to school everyday, and had shoes that were functional and fit well, but they don’t. I wish they weren’t neglected, exploited or abused.
I wish this week’s new boyfriend wouldn’t hit momma and lay around drunk. I wish last month’s would leave her alone. I wish new stepfathers wouldn’t bother the little girls at night or beat on the little brothers for not being their own. I wish daddy’s new wife didn’t hate the sight of them or view them as the interlopers.
That wish list is a constant because those conditions are part of the interior life of some of those kids in front of me every year. Everything else has changed. Every Thing. Dry erase. Smart rooms. Instructional coaches. SCOS. IEP. EOG. EOC. SIOP. NCLB. AYP. NCWISE. Ghaaaaa!
My kids don’t even have a library. They have a media center. Their textbooks weigh 800 pounds and some have to haul them everywhere, every day. They changed the name of my class to Language Arts, and my own kids don’t even have teachers anymore. But I don’t tell them to say “Yes, ma’am, no ma’am, no excuses, ma’am,” to their educators. I ask them to say it to their teachers.
I never give homework. I hope they will read, but when you leave school, go be a little kid.
I don’t ever call Momma over misbehavior. I save phone calls for things I’m proud of. I don’t expect Momma to help me do what I am being well paid to do. I definitely make too much to expect her to help me manage my classroom.
All I want from Momma is for her to at least not hurt ‘em. I wish for a lot of things for my kids. That is at the top. Please just don’t hurt them.
I give every kid a new day every day. I don’t care what they did yesterday or last week. We are going to enjoy the possibilities instead of dragging around in the ashes of the past.
Every single Friday, I make every single kid say the same thing. They have to read it at first, but it gets stored quickly. They have to say this out loud together and put their name in the space. They have to stand up too. “I am the only_____we have. I am valuable and precious, so I will not take foolish risks.” Then they have to sit down. I don’t care if the bell did ring. They don’t get to move until the R sound rolls off of “another.” I always say, “Bye. I love you. Be kind to one another.”
I don’t want to lose them. I don’t want them hurt. I don’t want to wish that I told them I love them. They are valuable. They are precious. I do love them. That is the stuff that matters. The board up there on that wall and those young ’uns we have for such a short time, not one minute of it promised tomorrow. Nothing else matters. Nothing. I wish we could get back to some of that, the important stuff.
Bob Harrison is a 1974 graduate of Tennessee High School who now lives in Connelly Springs, N.C. He is an English teacher, an essayist and is proud to have been a student of Coach John Manney, Ms. Maxie Miller and Dr. Allen Pridgen.
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Reader Reactions
Thank ewe for the kind responses. Scott, first, I am not now, nor have I ever been, a member of a teacher’s union or association. NC is a right-to-work state and has an “association” which, to me, is indistinguishable from a union. 2) The parents of my students in TN, LA and in NC have been both functional and dysfunctional in surprisingly consistent numbers. There are both good and bad everywhere. That includes parents and teachers. I do not confuse in loco parentis with parenting; the distinction is, to me, an important statutory element in the chain of custody of children, nothing more. 3) I did not suggest that I am frustrated by a general lack of parenting skills. I am sometimes exasperated by the extraordinary intrusion that the above acronyms represent. I love children, and they seem to have some affection for me. I am well paid for doing a job that I absolutely love. I don’t care if some kids, at first, resent me, fail to trust me, or even if they seem to openly hate me. I don’t hold that against them. I know that kids who have had bad experiences will be reluctant to trust at first. I expect to earn their trust. I know that parents who hated or undervalued school tend to have kids who, at first, hate and undervalue it. Children who hate or mistrust law enforcement usually have parents who hated them. That doesn’t mean the child has a criminal history, but it may indicate that a parent does. I don’t hold any of that against my students—whose experiential background is, after all, limited— because it is part of my responsibility to the children in my care to be a contradiction of, to be a pleasant aberration to, those preconceived notions over which I have no control. I failed, I did, if a child leaves me at the end of the year with that same posture, but I don’t teach that. I earn their trust. They learned something their parents didn’t teach them, something that cannot be found in books or degrees or vicariously through anyone else’s experience. My hope is that their children will be less conflicted than they were at first. It is okay to trust. School is not so bad. I fail, I do, if I don’t teach them how to learn. I fail, I do, if I neglect to, or if I interfere with their ability to, learn. I wish parents (and other teachers) would do no harm, but I have no control over that. I just promise that I will do no harm.
Thanks Farmer. Actually Gatto has written several other tomes that say much the same things. Dumbing us Down an dThe Underground History of Education are two of them. This guy was the New York City and State teacher of the year for 1991 an dimmediately after receiving the awards, he retired and has blown the whistle on what government sponsored education is really about. He’s been there and knows whereof he speaks. Despite the fact that there are a lot of sincere, wonderful people who are teachers, government (public) school education is a lost cause.
Great points, Scott.
Check out a book called ‘Dumbing Down Our Kids’ by Charles J. Sykes. It’s an outstanding read. It brings to light exactly what our public education system has become.
You may enjoy it.
Farmer et. al., You write, “Public education could be terrific. However, until school administrators gain some courage to do the right things, it’ll continue to be as it is. Currently, little is done to prepare young people for the future.“ Unfortunately, most of you mistakenly believe that government schools are about education. They’re not—they are about social engineering. Don’t believe me? Pick up and read John Taylor Gatto’s book, “Weapons of Mass Instruction.“ Compulsory government education as we know it began in the 1850’s to achieve one result, a populace who would make good factory workers, who did what they were told and did not think for themselves. The teacher in this letter is doing some remarkably caring things, and I’ll bet that he meets with frustration every step of the way, becasue the NEA and the administration don’t want him taking that kind of a personal interest in his students.
Also, it sounds like some of the parents he deals with are not real great. However, he should never forget that he is not each of his students’ parent. I have witnessed too many teachers who thought they loved the students more than their own parents did and they said and did things that undermined the parental authority. This violates important social and familial boundaries. A few years back, the NEA tried to drop the age of compulsory education to 1 year of age. Why would any stranger think that they know my own child and what is best for him or her unless there was some underlying agenda? Homeschool is the only option where the parent and teacher get to be the same person.
oldman/dadw5boys,
I agree that principals are managers. And IF they actually managed, I’d be ok with their salaries. However, most of today’s principals strive only to keep parents happy enough so they won’t complain. Principals routinely ignore school policy on discipline and most other things.
Principals also routinely place blame on teachers for students not meeting deadlines, doing homework, etc. One of my favorites is when students use profanity, and principals imply that teachers “provoke” the student, forcing him/her to use the bad language. The same with fights…..Teachers are often asked what THEY did that could’ve led to a student fight.
Non-educators probably won’t believe this, and I understand that. I wouldn’t either if I hadn’t been in a family of educators and actually read letters from principals to teachers saying these exact things.
Public education could be terrific. However, until school administrators gain some courage to do the right things, it’ll continue to be as it is. Currently, little is done to prepare young people for the future.
I have no problem carrying dadsw5boys mantel though he is a lot smaterer than I am when it comes to enginnering and Economics.
Back to education. Why do we need a Princinple at each school making over $100,000 a year ? They are just managers. The make sure there is a Teacher each day in a classrom and beyond that I don’t see wehat they actually do to eanr that much money.
For years these middle managers have been downsized and the workers who actully produce a product are paid better. Why not in Education ?
YUP!
He must have stayed off the sauce today…
But then he was up at 2:54 AM again- was that a late night, or an early wake-up???
Hey oldman/dadw5boys,
Let the administrators keep their money. It would be nice if they’d support teachers and discipline students. Currently, students do pretty much what they want. Teachers are too often blamed for the poor decisions made by the students.
NEWS FLASH——OLDMAN/DADW5BOYS ACTUALLY MADE AN INTELLIGENT POST!!!!!!
So many Teachers are trying to love this everyday. If the Public only could see the timeit takes everyday just to get the kids ready to learn and then keep them interested. The time is so short and so much is demanded.
Teachers who do get them to learn deserve an award for each child.
Too bad so much money goes to Adminstration instead of to the Teacher in the classroom treaching the kids.
How many years have we had schools ?
Don’t they have a managment plan that is workble yet so they cost of Adminstration can be cut and Teachers actually paid better.
Princilpes getting $100,000 and Adminstrators $160,000+ that while the Teachers make between $35,000 and 48,000
HOW IS THAT FAIR ?
That’s awesome
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