(This is the second installment of a pep talk to teachers about how much they matter! This original post is almost 2 years to the day i am updating this)In my last post, I made the analogy that 'The Letter' that arrives from the administration that school is about to begin and meetings are the order of the day was like the giant BALL that chases Indiana Jones. I remarked that he eluded it.
That's when I remembered that as he jumps out of its way, he is greeted by a mob of local spear pointing natives, and , man, are they restless! So he dashes into the forest as they chase him down, spears zipping past him. Then he realizes that the river holding his sea plane is just a leap off a cliff away. Apparently, the natives are not fond of water. Indy swims to the plane and seems safe...at last. Whew...until SNAKES !
I realized that after teachers face the "Opening Day" and everyone is on their best behavior, soon their 'natives' will get restless...no spears, yet! So here are a few things to mull over.
You must care about what you teach.
Above all,
Your students must care about you and what you teach them.”
I've read that we lose 50% of all beginning teachers by the 5th year of service. Why...besides the financial issues? Teaching is very difficult, and believe me, the ones who master it are artists. Sure some teachers love kids, and some love their curriculum--but the master teachers love both, and they get kids to 'lean in' to their class, as Sheryl Sandberg insists. Students are 'all in' not out of fear, not for the grade, not for the parents, but for themselves. Malcolm Gladwell insists it takes 10,000 hours for someone to gain mastery of a skill. Well, that's around year 7. So for the young guns--patience; for the old hands--it's always a good idea to reassess and reinvent oneself. It's what keeps you fresh. I know the transition to American Literature kept me challenged and invigorated.
2."Your ‘I Will’ is more important than your IQ”
I stole this motto from the great Chicago teacher Marva Collins. Kids need to know it's all about desire. It's about grit (Time magazine covered the 'Grit Issue' years ago) For most of the master teachers I know, nothing I am saying is 'breaking news'--but let me add this point. When I took the SAT test in 1972, my score was 880...combined..I told students this fact so they knew what I was about; being 'test'smart is not enough, effort tests one's mettle and makes one's acts memorable. I remember Dawn (Andrews) Bradbury's graduation letter, in which she remarked that she felt intimidated about being in an 'honors English' class. She concluded her letter to me that "if Mr. Pacilio could do it [with his SAT score}, then I can, too." She's still out there making a difference.
3. Master teachers make complicated things simpler, but some teachers make complicated things... even more complicated.
I was doing well in math until the teacher put an X on the board...followed by a Y! The word problems were bad enough--'Two trains leave the stations and then they crash into each other. When? Where? How many injured? Was I on the train?!
My daughter Anna could have been on the same train that I was. Then came Ken Matson, math guru, to save her from falling off the tracks. Ken volunteered to teach Algebra 1 her freshman year. (He usually taught the highest math levels.) He was a master of the simple explanation and the idea that less is more. Fewer homework problems, but one of each variation of the lesson. He set the foundation for Anna.
I knew that just the two words Literary Analysis made my students shudder (and English teachers argue), but when the late, great Jack Mosher asked master teacher and writing guru Jane Schaffer (who passed several years ago) to tutor our English department, Jane knew how to break writing down to a science--literally. This was her non-negotiable doctrine:
All sports coaches (see pic of three great ones--> know this. Break down the complex: the swing, a pitch, a serve, a tackle, a stroke. Simplify. The kids will say it's easy. They will say what Aly Kesian, in my American Literature class, told me, " I never could write a paper. Now I can. It's organized...I know what to write next."
It's as simple as Pi (π)...okay, some things are complicated...
And Anna graduated from Sonoma State University, summa cumme laude...she is now the Communications Director for Congressman Marc Veasey of Texas.
Above all,
Your students must care about you and what you teach them.”
I've read that we lose 50% of all beginning teachers by the 5th year of service. Why...besides the financial issues? Teaching is very difficult, and believe me, the ones who master it are artists. Sure some teachers love kids, and some love their curriculum--but the master teachers love both, and they get kids to 'lean in' to their class, as Sheryl Sandberg insists. Students are 'all in' not out of fear, not for the grade, not for the parents, but for themselves. Malcolm Gladwell insists it takes 10,000 hours for someone to gain mastery of a skill. Well, that's around year 7. So for the young guns--patience; for the old hands--it's always a good idea to reassess and reinvent oneself. It's what keeps you fresh. I know the transition to American Literature kept me challenged and invigorated.
2."Your ‘I Will’ is more important than your IQ”
I stole this motto from the great Chicago teacher Marva Collins. Kids need to know it's all about desire. It's about grit (Time magazine covered the 'Grit Issue' years ago) For most of the master teachers I know, nothing I am saying is 'breaking news'--but let me add this point. When I took the SAT test in 1972, my score was 880...combined..I told students this fact so they knew what I was about; being 'test'smart is not enough, effort tests one's mettle and makes one's acts memorable. I remember Dawn (Andrews) Bradbury's graduation letter, in which she remarked that she felt intimidated about being in an 'honors English' class. She concluded her letter to me that "if Mr. Pacilio could do it [with his SAT score}, then I can, too." She's still out there making a difference.
3. Master teachers make complicated things simpler, but some teachers make complicated things... even more complicated.
I was doing well in math until the teacher put an X on the board...followed by a Y! The word problems were bad enough--'Two trains leave the stations and then they crash into each other. When? Where? How many injured? Was I on the train?!
My daughter Anna could have been on the same train that I was. Then came Ken Matson, math guru, to save her from falling off the tracks. Ken volunteered to teach Algebra 1 her freshman year. (He usually taught the highest math levels.) He was a master of the simple explanation and the idea that less is more. Fewer homework problems, but one of each variation of the lesson. He set the foundation for Anna.
I knew that just the two words Literary Analysis made my students shudder (and English teachers argue), but when the late, great Jack Mosher asked master teacher and writing guru Jane Schaffer (who passed several years ago) to tutor our English department, Jane knew how to break writing down to a science--literally. This was her non-negotiable doctrine:
"ALL STUDENTS CAN THINK; ALL STUDENTS CAN WRITE."
All sports coaches (see pic of three great ones--> know this. Break down the complex: the swing, a pitch, a serve, a tackle, a stroke. Simplify. The kids will say it's easy. They will say what Aly Kesian, in my American Literature class, told me, " I never could write a paper. Now I can. It's organized...I know what to write next."
It's as simple as Pi (π)...okay, some things are complicated...
And Anna graduated from Sonoma State University, summa cumme laude...she is now the Communications Director for Congressman Marc Veasey of Texas.
(Part 2 of my blog here at the Metaphor Cafe...)
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