Today is National Teacher Appreciation
Day which is part of Teacher Appreciation Week. I know why I became a
teacher (my mother made me do it!), but why do I love teaching? Now
that I am a retired teacher, I am starting to get a handle on some
reasons. I think about the things that I miss about teaching.
I think being remembered is part of
it. Who doesn't want to be remembered? This past Saturday night at
the YWCA Centennial Celebration, I was impressed that of the 100
Legacy Women named from the rolls of the Women of Achievement
winners, 12 were from the Education category. It speaks volumes about
being remembered. Maryann Nunnally was voted as being the overall
winner for Education. She is definitely someone that I remember and
appreciate. We carpooled for swim team practice 35 years ago. She has
always been full of wisdom. I will always remember what she taught me
about children, parenting, teaching, and people.
I also remember one of my teachers
from back in the days at Maplewood Elementary in Waynedale. I really
liked Miss Weilbaker. However, by today's standards she would be
considered quite controversial. Come to think of it, she was
controversial even back in 1958-1959. Miss Weilbaker at times did
smell and it caused a lot of angst for some classmates. Her offensive
odor kept the”mothers' telephone tree” quite busy. One classmate
took it upon himself to put a bar of soap on her desk. If I remember
correctly, it was with his mother's blessing.
In spite of her smell, Miss Weilbaker
was an extraordinary teacher. She sparked within me an interest in
History and Social Studies. It was under her tutelage that we were
exposed to Indiana History. To culminate our study of Indiana, we
were to assemble a notebook and written reports about Indiana with an
emphasis on Fort Wayne and Allen County. At the very beginning she
had laid out the ground rules about how the notebook was to be
assembled. There was to be no use of colored ink! Well I got a brain
storm about making my notebook out of wood native to Indiana. My dad,
being a pattern maker, could achieve this feat. The shape of Indiana
was even cut out of wood for the front of the notebook. (I still have
this notebook!) Well, unless I used brown ink, my wood theme was not
complete. She loved my report, asked if she could keep the notebook,
included it in the picture for the Allen County Schools' newsletter,
and had it on display when the Superintendent made a visit to our
classroom. However, as promised, she knocked me down to a B because I
used colored ink. In those days, it never occurred to my parents to
question that grade of B. Plus, it did teach me to understand that
some rules can be tinkered with and some not, but it was my job to
figure out which ones.
However, the greatest contribution to
my education from Miss Weilbaker came from her most controversial
classroom practice. After a major test Miss Weilbaker would rearrange
our desks according to our test scores.(Can you imagine the outcry if
she were alive today and carrying out this classroom practice?). It
was this rearranging of desks that woke within me the understanding
of what it means to compete. I believe that prior to Miss Weilbaker's
class, I did not totally understand the relative importance of good
grades and the power that they held for me. I was never very good at
sports and never really took part in any kind of team competition.
Hence, I did not know the feeling derived from competing and winning.
Thanks to Miss Weilbaker she turned learning, studying, and getting
good grades into a competition. It was my “sport!” Interestingly,
the harder I worked at my “sport,” the more I grew to love
learning!?!
Recently I read that Gene Simmons,
frontman for KISS, had been a teacher. He taught sixth grade. When
asked which was a tougher industry: music or education, he said that
it depends on how high you want to reach! Simmons explained that the
rewards are much greater in the music business, but the pitfalls are
very deep. He went on in the interview to say that “something both
professions offer is the chance to be in the spotlight” He feels
that in one, you're in front of an audience who may not want to be
there, but in the other, you're in front of an audience who worships
at your feet!”
I think Gene Simmons struck a note
with me about the spotlight thing. I've always enjoyed the
entertainment aspect of teaching. With me puppets have been an
important part of my teaching repertoire. You cannot be a puppeteer
without being comfortable on center stage. A puppet can generally
turn around any recalcitrant young student. Now my “puppeteering”
days are reserved for an audience of one. I have been known to do
“facetime” with my granddaughter in Raleigh. I get under the
table and hold my puppets up to the computer screen and recite finger
plays for her. She, like my former young students, love a good puppet
show.
And like Gene Simmons, dressing up was
part of my classroom demeanor. One of my prize costumes was the
purple velvet, full length gown that I wore when we studied Letter
Person Mr. V. The gown had been a bridesmaid dress worn by a parent
in a long ago wedding. So instead of giving it to Goodwill, the
parent gave it to me as an “end-of-the-year” gift. Mr. V wore a
Violet Velvet Vest and I wore the violet velvet, floor length gown.
Mr. V and I would act out his story about the “Vanishing Vests”
and we would invite the children to touch the velvet. Sadly, now days
for various reasons my husband doesn't have the imagination for, nor
the appreciation of a violet velvet, floor length bridesmaid gown!?!
(1)
Another aspect that I
miss about teaching is as an avenue for my creative urges. Maybe my
mother did know best when she steered me into teaching. She is the
one who had to put up with my constant need to be making or doing
something. Growing up I was always creating posters or displays for
projects in school, 4-H, or Girl Scouts. I have always looked upon
classroom bulletin boards as works of “art.” I always hated when
people felt the need to use borders on bulletin boards. It was a
personal goal of mine to have our classroom bulletin boards be
aesthetically pleasing. I wanted the work of the children to be
displayed in such a way that it would be attractive to everyone, not
just the principal or the parents. I know that my son-in-law realizes
that I miss this aspect of teaching when I recently rearranged the
walls of his home. Maybe I could get a job with a real estate company
as a home “stager!?!”
In addition, I miss the
synergy of the classroom. There is such a good feeling when a plan
comes together and it unfolds like a flower. Creating units for
classroom topics has always been a favorite teaching activity for me.
It made me happiest when I could teach or present a topic in such a
way that the children felt it, heard it, saw it, tasted it, and even
smelled it. I also felt the need to introduce topics or rather “set
the stage” with a purpose for learning. Anything could be a starter
or purpose—a holiday, a current event, the weather, a question from
a child, etc. When school subjects are pulled together under one
umbrella topic, real learning will occur and new avenues of learning
will open up. A simple project like making a suncatcher can serve as
a springboard to science, art, literature, cooking, etc. Children
should also feel free to take something from say the dress-up box and
use it in a different way. I always felt successful when I saw the
doll's baby blanket on the floor as a tablecloth for a picnic, tied
around a neck as a cape or tied around a waist as a skirt!
Earlier in the month my
husband asked me why I was dragging out and putting up all that
Easter stuff because no one was going to be here. Even after almost
48 years of marriage, he still doesn't know me like my mother did!!!
(1)
Rock Star Gene Simmons' School Teacher Past,
http://PARADE.condenast.com., 2012
