I had a very interesting conversation with my mom
recently. We had a chance to sit down
together…which rarely happens…and the conversation started out with her
saying... “So, I was reading your blog the other day,,,”. This comes after a text I got from her last
week that let me know that she was now on Twitter. We are talking about a woman who has spent the better
part of the last 7 years turning her television on with a needle nosed pliers
and now she rocks an IPhone, reads blogs, and is delving into Twitter. We talked about the time she threw a sandwich
at me because I said the peanut butter was on the wrong side (this story
actually made the front page of a local paper…sorry, mom)…and when she poured a
container of Kool-Aid over my head because I wouldn’t pick up the stuff I had
left out…and when she waited up for me to get home and open a college letter to
see if I got in…and when I called her after defending my dissertation. The list could go on for many blogs, but it
made me think about the journey we all take in education and who we choose to
share that journey with along the way.
Our conversation turned to teaching, more
importantly teachers. It was very
interesting to hear her experience going through school with me as it tended to
mirror how I felt about teachers. I
think we sometimes forget that the first teachers in everyone’s lives are
parents, and as schools we can’t lose sight of the fact that a student’s first
teacher needs to be included in how we educate children in the future.
My elementary school experience, in particular, was
not a model in academic excellence or behavior.
I knew there were teachers in the building that saw me walking down the
hall and wondered what I was up to or were waiting until they could catch me
doing something I should not. Having
said that…I believe I probably earned the looks and the added accountability. I felt out of place…knew I wasn't the
smartest person in the class and that I really wanted to be in charge instead
of being told what I should learn.
My mom ran into one of my former teachers in the
grocery store after I got my first principal position. This teacher was one of
the people that did not see my need to be on stage and propensity to make
people laugh in class as a solid foundation of scholarship. My mom stopped and
said hi to the woman and said, “You are not going to believe what Joe is doing
now.” After the initial look that my
mom could have perceived as…maybe 5-10 with a slight change at parole…she told
her that I was a principal at an elementary school. The answer told a story that surprised
me a great deal. The teacher said that
she always thought if they could take someone who struggled to behave in school
and somehow inspire the importance of education, then they may be a pretty good
teacher. I kept thinking what that would
have looked like in a conversation as a student in her class. Would I perceive our relationship differently
if I knew she thought I had potential to lead a school?
Then there was the one. The teacher who cared more about the fact
that I was there than what she was going to teach me that day. The teacher that spent more time talking WITH
me than talking AT me. The teacher that
somehow was able to help me solve a Rubik's Cube when I was stuck and let us
play real dodge ball as a class because she knew there were many of us that
just needed to get out. The teacher that
called my house just to tell my parents that I did a great job. On what you ask? I still have no idea…but I
know she did it. I KNEW from every
minute I was in that classroom that I had potential to do great things. I have NO IDEA what she taught me…I don’t
know at what Lexile Level I ended the year or how far below the standard I was
in Math. I don’t know what my state
standardized test score was or how many office referrals I had for the year. I
do know…that she cared about me…and the perception I have is that she cared
about me more than anyone else. I am
sure if you ask my classmates from that year they would say she cared for them
more than me…and that is the true essence of what a teacher can do for our
kids.
The bottom line is that kids and parents know if we
care about them. The student’s experience
in class often mirrors the thoughts parents have about the teacher and
school. Would you rather have them feel
it every day or wait 20 years until you run across them in a grocery store to
let them know they have potential?
