Post by Katie Hansen: Katie is in her 14thyear
of teaching biology, the last 10 years at Bettendorf High School. She advises student
council and coaches boy’s golf. You can follow Katie on twitter @katiejoyk
This past
fall my family and hometown community suddenly lost a true friend, Mortonite,
and fellow teacher. Joal was a 3rd grade teacher and the varsity
boys tennis coach in Morton, IL. As news of his tragic death spread, I read all
the social media posts, watched the TV broadcasts online, followed the
community news, and attended his visitation and funeral. The ripple effect of
his influence was astounding. Story upon
story was posted of his impact not only on his 3rd grade students,
but overflowing to their families, his tennis players, and the community as a
whole. https://www.facebook.com/pray4joal
I thought as
I read the comments pouring in…Not a single student, tennis player, parent, or
fellow colleague commented on how Joal taught multiplication, how he
demonstrated his jump serve, or how he presented standardized test data to the
staff. The stories were about Joal’s impact on his students and players. How he
went out of his way to make them feel important, how he always looked for ways
to include everyone, and how he showed his fun-loving personality by making his
classroom his own.
With each
story that was posted, I reflected on what students really love in a teacher. I
don’t think it’s any different in the 3rd grade than in the 12th
grade. The qualities that teachers want in their students are the same
qualities that students want in their teachers: being personable, being
respectful, showing a sense of humor, smiling, and most importantly, giving
love.
Kids desire
to know and be known. We probably focus too much on the former. The ever
growing to-do list of grading papers, making copies, setting up for a lab,
rewriting a test, attending meetings, and updating websites seem to consume our
focus. Reading Joal’s stories reminded me to redirect my focus.
When I get
fired up in class, and I see my students are missing the big picture of school,
I have a speech that just seems to pour out. I don’t remember how it developed for
the first time, but it was so natural that I’ve shared it many times since. Here
is what I tell them:
“Hey, if I see you in Hy-Vee ten years from
now, I won’t quiz you about the function of the mitochondria or the phases of
mitosis. I didn't become a high school biology teacher because I love biology.
Sure, I find it interesting, but biology is my vehicle for teaching you how to
better yourself. In my class, I hope you learn something about YOU. I hope you
learn how to be responsible, how to study, how to problem solve, or how to work
with a group of people who aren't your best friends. I hope something piques
your interest enough to Google it on your iPad just because you are curious. I
want to see you open up and become more confident. I want you to wonder why. I
want you to think! So, if I have bugged you about a missing assignment, or I
want you to stay after class to chat I am only doing this to help YOU. I want
to watch you graduate from BHS and move on to succeed elsewhere. That’s what I
hope you really learn in my biology class. So, if I see you at Hy-Vee in ten
years, I will not ask you about mitochondria or mitosis, but I will ask you
about YOU.”
(By the way,
the mitochondria provide energy for the cell and the phases of mitosis are
prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.)
This speech
seems to make an appearance each semester and when it does my voice usually
quivers partway through it. That quiver reinforces my desire to be in a
classroom full of students. It reminds me to focus away from the to-do list and
back to them. I pray I always have that quiver.
It’s not
about the perfect lesson plan, the creative bulletin board, or the updated
grade book.
Thanks for reminding me of that, Joal.
Really enjoyed reading your post. I would love to be in your classroom on the day that you deliver this message. There are so many great "life lessons" there. Keep up the great job of showing kids you care, for getting so involved in extracurricular activities, and for being such a positive role model for the students at BHS.
ReplyDeleteWonderful reminder. I love getting that quiver in my voice, too.
ReplyDeleteWhere is the like button? Very relatable, heartfelt post.
ReplyDeleteI found your thoughts about this colleague to be extremely compelling, but even more so it caused me to ponder your statement, "Kids desire to know and be known." This is amazingly simply and incredibly true.
ReplyDeleteStudents being known is something that is at the heart of great teaching, and it is something that we can gloss over too much in an effort to make sure they know all of the things we want to teach them. Especially in this era of "personalization", we are really struggling to understand the "person" within our structures. But it is this aspect of wanting to be known and treated as a person that the true power of connecting with kids lies.
I hope you never stop doing this. Thank you for serving these children, and thank you for this wonderful post.
P.S. This comment is a part of the #C4C15 project. Find out more here: http://bit.ly/C4C15