The Intangibles of Teaching

I went for a massage this morning (self-care is important, people) and as I was checking out, this m an was telling the receptionist about how his teachers influenced his life. About how he was a “bad kid” but they still supported him and how he didn’t really realize it until later how much his teacher meant to him. I didn’t catch the beginning of this conversation, but I said to him that it was great to hear something positive about teachers, since we’re so used to negativity. I hope his teacher knew what an impact they had on him. And that, friends, is why we do what we do. But it is also the hardest thing to measure. And we know that everything teachers do must be measured in some way. There is a time and a place for rubrics, but this, clearly is not it. This was actually the topic of an article I read recently: https://medium.com/@mrtomrad/i-love-teaching-for-all-the-reasons-that-cant-be-counted-33568cd96b97, which basically talks about the same thing. About relationships and trust and how as a teacher, you have to build both in order to get the students to buy in.

I have been teaching my 11th graders for a year and a half and in November, I left the script behind and began reading Fences by August Wilson with them. They loved the book and were motivated to learn more about the themes and topics addressed in the book like racism in sports and the Great Migration. When I got observed, my marks were ok, but not as high as they were when I was following the script. Now, I can follow the script all I want but I would not have the same buy in that I had when reading something I knew the kids enjoyed. And again, how do you measure that? You measure it in: “Miss, are we reading the book today?”; “Can I take the book home?”; “I can really relate to Cory because I’m an athlete too and Troy is just blinded by racism.” There is a space on the Danielson rubric that measure student engagement, but I still argue that this is not measurable, but is most definitely what makes it successful. Now, would my life be easier if I followed the script and just did what everyone else did? Sure. But would it be at all interesting or engaging for my students? No. But as a 12 year veteran, I can pick and choose where I do these things. It is harder for a newer teacher to to make these decisions because they feel they have to live and die by that rubric. And they know what the right choices are but they’re not always supported in them.

I did a project in my 11th grade AP English class that I remember to this day. It was unique and spoke to my creativity. Was there any mention of passing the English Regents? No. There didn’t have to be. The teaching climate was different then, and teachers were allowed much more freedom than they are afforded now. But I would like to be able to have at least a little bit of that impact on my students, even given the parameters of “good teaching’ that exist today.