Saturday, May 10, 2014

Reflecting on Teaching and Teachers

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



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