To Teach, To Learn...
I recently finished reading a final round of letters from my students. I read a few passages to Diane, and she said, “The next time you wonder if you make a difference in the world, pull those letters out and read them.”
She’s right. One student wrote,
Ever since high school, I have always heard students ask teachers, ‘How will we be able to use what you are teaching us in the real world?’ Well, I will never have to ask you that question. I certainly understand what you have taught me will be of great benefit to me as I move on in life.
From one of my jokers:
I must say, this has been the best writing class I have ever taken. I almost wish I had failed it so I could take it again. Just kidding.
Okay—those are great for my ego, but I was also struck by students suggesting that my caring about them was somehow unique in their experience of teachers:
Sometimes I get the feeling that some teachers really hate their jobs…there are a few teachers, however, like you, who really think about our learning.
In high school, I had this English teacher—this older woman who had been there forever—and her life’s goal was to make students terrified.
I don’t fool myself into thinking my students will wow their future teachers with all of their new writing skills. They will still struggle. They will still write “there” instead of “their.” Occasionally, they will have some aha moment when they think, “Oh, I need a transition here.” Or “I could combine those sentences.” Or “Hmmm, this writer makes me wonder about…”
I hope that’s what I’ve done—make my students wonder. I like it when they look off in the distance, then back at me, with some new light.
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