Don't forget what we do in school.

We do what we have to do so we can do what we want to do.


For instance, right now, I have reading to do before the African American Slavery class I have tomorrow (It's Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 11-11:50am). I can't find it online where the teacher said it should be. So am I going back to bed? No! I need to read this article so that I can discuss it with my classmates tomorrow. I need to read the article so I know why I study the things I study. I need to read the article so that one day, I can teach it to college students in my classroom one day.

So I'm not going back to sleep. I'm calling my professor and asking her if I can borrow her copy. I'm doing what I have to do so I can do what I want to do.

Miracle Workers

By Taylor Mali
www.taylormali.com

I have loved this poem since the first time I heard it, and I wanted to share it with you. This is how I feel about teaching.

Sunday nights I lie awake—
as all teachers do—
and wait for sleep to come
like the last student in my class to arrive.
My grading is done, my lesson plans are in order,
and still sleep wanders the hallways like Lower School music.
I’m a teacher. This is what I do.

Like a builder builds, or a sculptor sculpts,
a preacher preaches, and a teacher teaches.
This is what we do.
We are experts in the art of explanation:
I know the difference between questions
to answer and questions to ask.

That's an excellent question.
What do you think?

If two boys are fighting, I break it up.
But if two girls are fighting, I wait until it’s over and then drag what’s left to the nurse’s office.
I’m not your mother, or your father,
or your jailer, or your torturer,
or your biggest fan in the whole wide world
even if sometimes I am all of these things.
I know you can do these things I make you do.
That’s why I make you do them.
I’m a teacher. This is what I do.

Once in a restaurant, when the waiter asked me
if I wanted anything else, and I said,
"No, thank you, just the check, please,"
and he said, "How about a look at the dessert menu?"
I knew I had become a teacher when I said,
"What did I just say?
Please don’t make me repeat myself!"

In the quiet hours of the dawn
I write assignment sheets and print them
without spell checking them. Because I’m a teacher,
and teachers don’t make spelling mistakes.
So yes, as a matter of fact, the new dress cod
will apply to all members of the 5th, 6th, and 78th grades;
and if you need an extension on your 55-paragraph essays
examining The Pubic Wars from an hysterical perspective
you may have only until January 331st.
I trust that won’t be a problem for anyone?

I like to lecture on love and speak on responsibility.
I hold forth on humility, compassion, eloquence, and honesty.
And when my students ask,
“Are we going to be responsible for this?”
I say, If not you, then who?
You think my generation will be responsible?
We’re the ones who got you into this mess,
now you are our only hope.
And when they say, “What we meant
was, ‘Will we be tested on this?’”
I say Every single day of your lives!

Once, I put a pencil on the desk of a student
who was digging in her backpack for a pencil.
But she didn’t see me do it, so when I walked
to the other side of the room and she raised her hand
and asked if she could borrow a pencil,
I intoned, In the name of Socrates and Jesus,
and all the gods of teaching,
I declare you already possess everything you will ever need!
Shazzam!
“You are the weirdest teacher I have ever—”
Then she saw the pencil on her desk and screamed.
“You’re a miracle worker! How did you do that?”

I just gave you what I knew you needed
before you had to ask for it.
Education is the miracle, I’m just the worker.
But I’m a teacher.
And that’s what we do.

To my students

I've been pretty open with you throughout the year about my personal religious beliefs. I've also made it very clear that those are my beliefs, and have been careful to never engage in any kind of prayer or devotional, or in criticizing any religion.

Even though many of you are horrified that I am not a trinitarian Christian, I read the Bible (especially the New Testament) a lot. And as the year ends, I wanted to share one of my favorite Bible verses with you. It is a passage that has always guided the work that I do, and I hope that you will take its message with you into your future as well.

Let no one have contempt for your youth, but set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. ...Attend to the reading, exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have... Be diligent in these matters, be absorbed in them, so that your progress may be evident to everyone. Attend to yourself and your teaching: persevere in both tasks, for by doing so you will save both yourself and those who listen to you. (1 Timothy 4:12-16)

I love you all, and wish you only the best. Please stay in touch.

Don't Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest! if you must; but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow;
You might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit;
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.