7 things I wish people understood about being a teacher
Before I decided to teach high school, I made a list of the things I enjoy doing: discussing books and movies, playing music, being around kids, basketball, cooking. I ruled out a few career paths immediately. I knew from working restaurant jobs as a teenager that the lifestyle of a chef wouldn't suit me. No professional basketball league was pathetic enough to let me in. I'd toured with some bands, but they were winding down, not up.
Soon, though, one profession emerged as an obvious choice: teaching. I envisioned sparking debates about important books and nurturing young writers. Maybe I'd even coach basketball or mentor teenage musicians. I entered UCLA's master's in education program and student-taught in Compton. Since then, I've worked at charter and public high schools in both Los Angeles and the Bay Area, teaching ninth, 10th, and 12th grade English, as well as journalism and, for one year, something heinous called "Grammar Lab." I have primarily worked with low-income students, although recently my classroom has diversified to include more affluent kids as well.
As a teacher, I've learned a lot about education, but it's also been a lens through which I've learned about everything else. Here are some important lessons I have taken away.
1) Teaching has made me smarter
Every year, I face 150 individuals with unique talents and backgrounds. Many will be first-generation college-goers. At home, some contend with abuse, addiction, gangs, and fractured families. I want them to leave my classroom smarter, kinder, and more self-possessed. I want their successes to contribute to a more equitable society. This effort inspires and challenges me. I know many of my teacher peers feel the same way.
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Many years I teach the same books, but my approach depends on what's happening outside the classroom. This past year, I taught Toni Morrison's Beloved for the first time, using slave narratives, an excerpt from The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, and articles examining the legacy of slavery in America. We read about a new slave museum and George Washington's documented obsession with pursuing runaway slaves.
Few of my Latino and white students had thought seriously about black identity and experience in America. This investigation was the goal of the unit, not simply getting through an important novel. In 2016, the unit will accommodate the aftermath of the Charleston shootings, including President Obama's eulogy, but who knows what else will beg for inclusion before March? I add a bookmark to the Beloved folder a few times a week.
To teach this way, I read and watch obsessively. I stir at 3 am with my mind racing and tap notes into my phone. Everything I learn is filtered through the possibility that it might be taught.
2) I became a much better teacher when I put my students in charge
When I started out, I saw teaching as a performance, a 10-month riff on a fluid script. I was good because I knew my stuff and could hold students' attention. That's not unusual: Many teachers have egocentric tendencies.
But if you rattle off 60-minute monologues peppered with witty asides, you might end up being not just a memorably strange teacher, but an ineffective one too.
While theatrics have a place, I learned that students learn best when class is interactive, a dialogue — not a one-sided transmission. At the end of my first year, I asked students for advice, and a precocious stoner wrote, "Make us talk more" in fat block letters on his suggestion card.
I read and watch obsessively. Everything I learn is filtered through the possibility that it might be taught.
I'd learned this in grad school, of course, but I'd also placed a lot of stock in my ability to make a story like The Odyssey resonate with ninth-graders. I'd congratulated myself on cleverly painting Telemachus as a rebellious teen struggling with his absentee father's heavy shadow. I'd joked about rock star Odysseus's meandering 10-year tour home, complete with drugs and groupies. I'd noticed students laughing. I'd also seen them falling asleep.
Now I let students perform skits, create posters, and participate in panel discussions. I have them teach mini-lessons to the class. I wrap up the conversation with a flourish if necessary, but I let them drive most of the way home. This approach makes my students feel valuable (which too many teenagers don't) and helps build a community.
3) Standards like the Common Core do real harm in the wrong hands
I don't hate the new Common Core State Standards. The high school English standards make some sense when reasonably applied: English teachers should teach a lot of nonfiction; teaching students how to think critically, argue, and support opinions is important; science and history classes should build reading and writing skills, too.
Still, the standards can be damaging when implemented irrationally.
Standards are too often treated as a replacement for what teachers once considered good teaching. The standards come with software, materials, curricula, and standardized tests. Consultants may come to school to explain what everyone should be doing 7 things I wish people understood about being a teacher - Vox: