Dear past, present, and future students,
I want to begin by thanking you. Each
day with you has been, and will continue to be, an adventure. In my fourteen
years of teaching, I have learned so much; in fact, I am still discovering so
many new ways to reach and guide you in your learning that I know that my
future as a teacher holds much promise.
To my past students:
Thanks for learning with me as I made
mistakes. I do want you to know, though, that my heart was in the right place,
and I always had your best interests in mind. My first three years, I taught in
self-contained, sixth-grade classrooms. I was so overwhelmed at having to teach
every subject. While I excelled in some subjects, others were somewhat
neglected. This problem was exacerbated by the fact that there was absolutely
no curriculum to follow at the district where I first taught. I distinctly
remember my principal’s response to my request for a copy of the curriculum:
“There are your books,” he said, pointing to the books of various subjects stacked
on the floor of my portable classroom. And so, I began by teaching chapter one
of each book.
Even as I taught in this manner, I
realized that something was missing. However, I was too caught up in survival
mode to know how to fix the problem. For instance, I neglected to teach you to
write. Yes, you wrote, but, as I was all too aware at the time, I didn’t really
know how to teach it effectively. Therefore, I tended to avoid it.
In some ways, however, I believe I
served you well. Right from the start, I
knew I wanted to create a classroom atmosphere where students could feel
comfortable and supported by the teacher and classmates. I used creative
dramatics so that we could not only have fun, but learn to take risks as well.
You all seemed to enjoy that immensely, and it so helped to build a classroom
community.
My teaching style was grounded in the
lessons I learned as a student teacher. I taught fifth grade with a talented
teacher. She treated students with respect and valued respectful behavior over
almost everything else. She taught lessons about values and the way to treat
people and modeled that behavior. If students, for instance, corrected her in
front of others, she would use that as a teachable moment about how that
student might have chosen to speak to her privately and politely instead of
taking the risk of embarrassing her in front of the class. She, in turn, was
tender but direct with students when dealing with discipline or guidance.
I often think back to my student
teaching experiences from 15 years ago. So much of who I am and what I value
now was influenced by my mentor teacher. I value a classroom where students feel
respected and where they support their fellow students, and I think I have been
successful at instilling that classroom atmosphere since the moment I began
teaching.
To my
current students:
I am happy
that you have an experienced English teacher. I work so hard to provide you
with the skills and experiences necessary to be a contributing member of
society. I know that some of you lack encouragement and knowledge at home, so I
try to make up for that and hope you are learning so much more than just
reading and writing skills.
As I am sure
you have noticed, I try to bring historical and current events as well as
controversial issues into the English classroom. I worry that so many of you
come from homes where such things are not discussed. I want you to know that there is a big world
out there beyond our small community, and my hope is that I can play some small
role in planting the seeds of curiosity, empathy, passion, and open-mindedness
in you.
The social
injustice unit we are about to begin is one I am very excited about and so fits
who I am and what I care about. I am hoping that I might spark your interest by
reading, in literature circles, books about the Holocaust, the mistreatment of
Native Americans, the Civil Rights Movement, African atrocities, and the
treatment of females in Afghanistan. I plan to engage the class in rich discussions
about these topics and, by doing so, provide one important link to your path to
becoming a worldly, thoughtful, and compassionate adult.
In recent
years, I have made a concerted effort to ensure that each and every student in
my classroom is engaged. I began noticing that the same students, over and
over, seemed to be the ones answering all the questions. Many of you were
disengaged, allowing the others to take over so you could avoid the possibility
of making embarrassing mistakes or even just to let your minds wander. I began
looking for ways to teach all children effectively. This has been a challenge,
but I believe I am making headway toward my goal. I make sure my students sit
in groups in order to facilitate discussion. Sometimes you get a little chatty,
but I know it is a better way for you to learn than to sit in neat rows,
isolated from others. I mix up my methods in order to reach all of you. For
instance, I often have you share with a partner or your entire group before
reporting out to the class. I might assign each one of you to write a response
before we open up the discussion. In this way, everyone must voice an
opinion. Recently, I had you hold up
colored cards – red for disagree, green for agree, and yellow for unsure – in
response to a battery of opinion questions. I thought that went over very well,
and I noticed that many of you seemed more alert and interested in the topic. I
also think I noticed a little spark of confidence in some of my more reluctant
contributors.
Recently, I
invited a fellow teacher into my classroom to observe me. The lesson involved a
“Socratic circle” discussion about an article we had read. I like this method
because students only have four opportunities to speak, so they must think
before they use their “speaking cards.” This also allows the others to take
part, and encourages them to do so, because their participation is how they are
assessed. I must admit that this is a
great teaching method for me, because it discourages teacher involvement beyond
helping to keep students on track. Indeed, one of my faults is to sometimes
lecture and push my opinion on my students rather than to have students come to
their own conclusions.
As the
Socratic circle concluded, I found that there had been some misunderstanding
about a particular political party and point of view. I immediately went to my
files and pulled out what I thought was a very informative chart illustrating
the differences of priorities of the various political parties. I proceeded to
project the chart on a screen and analyze its meaning to the class. Honestly, I
felt that I was imparting some great knowledge to my students and felt that I
had seized upon a very teachable moment. Later, however, when I discussed the
lesson with my visiting teacher, she provided me with some great insight. She
pointed out that while I had taught some very interesting and pertinent
information, she wondered if I might try it another way. She suggested that I
pass out the chart to each student and let each group work together to decipher
its meaning. We went on to discuss how it is important to move away from spoon
feeding information to our students and move toward students learning to
inquire and discover for themselves. I
realized at that moment how I needed to shift my teaching methods in order to
facilitate my students into thinking and problem solving for themselves.
To my future students:
Although I
know I will continue to make mistakes and learn new and better methods along
the way, I believe you will experience the best of what I have to offer as a
teacher.
I promise to
continue teaching with a philosophy of mutual respect in a classroom
environment where you feel safe, comfortable, and free to take risks in your
writing and speaking. We will have fun,
but we will also remember that we need to keep aiming high in order for you to
reach your capabilities.
I will
continue to expose you to what is happening in the world and how you, as a
citizen of the world, can have an impact. I hope that, as a result, many of you
will find interest in other cultures and world issues. I also hope that you
will learn to identify and work against social injustices of any kind.
Beyond the
world’s problems, however, I must be cognizant of the issues in your lives. The
image of a recent conversation with a student should be a long-lasting reminder
that there is so much more to students than what we see at school. A student,
who I will call Tom, constantly seems disinterested and lazy. He has to be
prompted to stay on task and often sits there with a blank look in his eyes.
Tom is never a behavioral problem and is always agreeable. Still, I have lately
been feeling an increasing annoyance with him falling asleep during reading and
never turning in assignments. Finally, I pulled Tom aside.
“What is
going on with you, Tom?” I asked.
“Nothing,”
he shrugged.
“Well, there
must be something. You are doing absolutely nothing in here.”
Tom shrugged
again.
Exasperated,
I asked, “What are your goals in life? What do you want to be when you grow
up?”
“I don’t
know,” he answered, looking at the floor.
I tried
another angle. “Why are you so tired all the time?”
Tom finally
blurted out, “We were evicted from our house this weekend. We had to move in
with my grandma, and there are about seven of us in the bedroom. It’s hard to
sleep.”
I wanted to
cry. My tone immediately softened. “Okay, Buddy. Let’s get you to the office to
talk to the social worker. We will take care of you… just let me know this
stuff so I can help you.”
Tom nodded,
and we walked together to the office.
As soon as I
secured him with the social worker, I began to reflect on the experience. What
could I have done differently? This image and, sadly, other similar images,
will stick with me, and should stick with me, as a reminder to never forget
that each student is a human being with a life outside of school. When we
assign homework and projects to students, some of them go home to such chaos
that it is unrealistic to think they can accomplish much of anything.
As your future teacher, I vow to keep the best
interests of you in mind and to think twice before being too hard on you. I
promise to keep working toward a balance of high expectations combined with a
compassionate heart.
I so look forward to teaching you.
Warmly,
Mrs. Phillips
