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Hi,

My teaching career is almost over. By my count, at this writing, I have 20 weeks left to be a teacher at Cottage Grove High School. During the past 29+ years, I have learned a few things about teaching, and I want to take some time to share them with those of you who might be interested. For those who stick with me, you will read about things I think I did right, and things I think I did wrong, but in the end, it isn’t about me. It’s about teaching, and much of it is about things I wish I had known when I began, things I had to learn the hard way. Maybe by reading them, some of you will be spared the pain that came when I learned them. Some of the things I’ll write are things that other staff members already know; in fact, they’re way better at them than I ever was.

Some of what I have to say will be purely pedagogical, but some, like today’s item, will have to do with the emotion and passion of teaching. I felt it would be appropriate to start with one of the most important things of all.

If you’re still reading, I hope you enjoy the first installment.

ATTITUDE

It was a crummy, no-good Thursday morning. The day began with an alarm that barged into a good dream, calling me to another morning of driving 25 miles in the pouring rain to work in the leaky and musty-smelling classroom that was Room 21 in the old high school.

The sky was still dark; there wasn’t a hint of daylight. The car’s feeble beams barely illuminated the freeway; the rain fell hard that day, and the windshield wipers swung back and forth in dull repetition making it just barely possible to see.

The day before had not gone well. The lessons hadn’t hit home. The students were clearly not engaged. Morale among staff members was low, and among students it was even lower. The winter had brought a feeling that everyone simply needed to hunker down in order to survive. The students had essentially offered the “silent” contract.

“If you don’t bother us, we won’t bother you, and everyone can get along.”

The mileposts went by, and with each one, a pain in my stomach began to grow.

I don’t really know or understand what happened next. I just suddenly knew something that I hadn’t really thought about before, and it changed everything for me.

I think it was the thought that it was so hard to see where I was going, I might as well be blind, because the very next thought was, “you know, there are millions of blind people out there who would give everything they have just to see what you see.” And then came, “there are poor people all over the world that would love to have the car you’re driving right now.” And then, “there are thousands of unemployed teachers who would love to have your job, and to get to know and work with your kids.”

Then it came in a flood. “You have ears that can hear. You can walk and run. You have a mind that can grasp difficult concepts. You can be articulate. You have things of value and importance to teach your students. You get to work with wonderful colleague who really care about the kids and doing their jobs as well as they possibly can.”

By the time I got to work, I could barely wait to get into a somehow less musty-smelling Room 21 and begin setting up the day’s work. There was a new enthusiasm, a new determination that today would be different, and it was! I discovered that my gratitude for what I had, and for what I could do, could translate into passion in my classroom, and it became the basis for everything that has happened since then.

Now, no matter what the circumstances, I pause and consider “Thankful Thursday.” Each week, I make it a point to think about what is good in my life, what is good in my career, what is good about my school, what is good about my classes, and it has made a huge difference. Often, I tell my students about “Thankful Thursdays,” because I think it’s very powerful to count your blessings. Now, if I don’t mention “Thankful Thursday”, kids come up to me and remind me that it’s a day to be aware of the good things of life.

Since adopting this approach, it’s amazing how many more things I find to appreciate, to enjoy, and to laugh about. I’ve gone from feeling bad about a lot of things to realizing that yes, I can work on some of them, but at the same time, keeping a proper perspective about things will cause me to do better, and feel better. When I feel better, I approach every aspect of my work more positively.

It’s all a matter of attitude.