Continuing my series on letters to my students, today’s
letter is to Alex*, who asked the following questions:
“How old were you when you wanted to be a teacher?”
“How old are you?”
“How long have you wanted to teach?”
“How long have you taught?”
“How long were you in the Marine Corps?”
and,
“When did you meet Ms. N.?”
The Greatest Common Factor
I’ve had successful students that are very affluent,
successful ones that are on welfare, successful ones who have parents with
graduate degrees, and successful ones whose parents don’t have any degree. Similarly, I’ve had successful students of
every race and ethnicity, but I’ve also had students that have struggled whose
backgrounds that cover the entire spectrum as well. However, the one consistency that I have
noticed among the students that I’ve come in contact with is that the high
performing students are the ones that are the most inquisitive. Therefore, in order to develop young minds to
be more curious, teachers will start their lessons with questions. From there, lessons will progress and end so
that students begin to ask their own questions.
In the world of education, the ability for children to synthesize their
own questions and process is the highest form of thinking and the goal of every
teacher for their students to attain.
One key to getting students to ask questions is that
important first step – modeling questioning and opening up their minds to what
is being learned by accessing what they already know or have experienced. Therefore, before I had the students ask me
questions, I also asked them a series of questions. One of these questions was,
“What will you miss most about ABC Elementary
School*?”
To this, Alex wrote,
“I will miss the teachers
and classmates the most because they are the people that make school fun. For example, Mr. Lin…”
Who is Ms. N??
While I have a lot of growing to do in order to become a
good teacher, one thing that I’ve done a pretty good job at is making learning
interesting for my students. For example, one time I brought my dad to class in order for them to learn that there were different kinds of doctors. And, during the last month of
school I brought my friend (read: NOT girlfriend) Ms. N. in –
not so much for the students, but for Ms. N., who wanted to see what teaching
at a public school would be like. As
much as I try to get my students to have inquisitive minds, I guess I should
have expected the inquiries that I received from my students after she left!
“How old is she?”
“Is she going to be a teacher here?”
I guess that explains some of the questions posed in their
notebooks! Anyhow, on to my letter to
Alex…
Value of Happiness > Price of Happiness
Dear Alex,
It was fantastic having you in my
homeroom this year! I will always
remember each day after dismissal, when you and the other students that were
walkers or parent pick-ups would just hang out as if you didn’t want to leave
school. Whether it was completely silent
because we were all reading one of the ‘Hunger Games’ books or you all were
playing ‘Screaming Toes’, this time of day will always be one of my favorite
memories from this past year.
Despite the free time after
dismissal, it was rare to have you ask me questions. Perhaps it’s because I often give answers
that you can’t take seriously – especially if it’s about me – but I’ll be glad
to answer now. Anyhow, the first thought
that I had of becoming a teacher was right around the same time that I enlisted
in the Marine Corps – around 1996 or so, a few months before I turned 19 years old. I was in college at the time, and my thought
at that time was that I would become a teacher as a second career after I had
made a ton of money.
I kind of forgot about that thought
for many years, but a few years ago I began to volunteer with kids at my
church. I loved it! You’d be surprised how much more fun it is to
be a child and in the world of a child… for example, I don’t know any adults
who play ‘Screaming Toes’ while they are waiting for someone to pick them
up! My time with these kids made me realize that while money has its purposes and can make things more convenient, in itself it does not bring happiness. Being a kid again and teaching kids was so valuable to me that I quit my job and became a teacher in 2010.
As for my friend Ms. N., she is a
friend of mine that I know from church who happens to live close to me as
well. She’s a teacher also, and teachers
often like to visit other schools to see the similarities and differences. I’ve gone to visit other schools and teachers
several times, and each time I pick up something that I want to try in my
classroom. Learning from observing
others is a great way to learn – in fact, I’ve seen you do it many times and
that’s one of the reasons you are such a great student! Keep doing that and you’ll continue to make
yourself better.
I know I didn’t directly answer all
of your questions, but I left enough hints so that you should be able to figure
out the answers for yourself. Hope
you’re having a great summer and I hope to see you sometime next year!
Love,
Mr.
Lin
*Names changed
*Names changed
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