The dinner guests were
sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain
the problem with education.
He argued, 'What's a kid
going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a
teacher?'
He reminded the other
dinner guests what they say about teachers: 'Those who can, do. Those who
can't, teach.'
Bonnie, who had a
reputation for honesty and frankness replied, 'You want to know what I make?
(She paused for a second,
then began...)
'Well, I make kids work
harder than they ever thought they could.
I make a C+ feel like the
Congressional Medal of Honor.
I make kids sit through 40
minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I
Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.
You want to know what I
make?' (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table.)
''I make kids wonder.
I make them question.
I make them apologize and
mean it.
I make them have respect
and take responsibility for their actions.
I teach them to write and
then I make them write.
Keyboarding isn't
everything.
I make them read, read,
read.
I make them show all their
work in math. They use their God-given brain, not the man-made calculator.
I make my students from
other countries learn everything they need to know in English while preserving
their unique cultural identity.
I make my classroom a place
where all my students feel safe.
I make my students stand,
placing their hand over their heart to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the
Flag, One Nation Under God, because we live in the United States of America .
I make them understand that
if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they
can succeed in life.'
(Bonnie paused one last
time and then continued.)
'Then, when people try to
judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my
head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant...
You want to know what I
make?
I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What
do you make Mr. CEO?'
His jaw dropped, he went
silent.
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I think Bonnie's example is a perfect illustration of the mental thought process that leads many female teachers to burn-out. It is honorable to give oneself for others, but I would like to see some stats on the long term effects of adopting this as a personal teaching philosophy. Many female teachers I know - who remain good teachers for a lifetime - have needed to pull away from ideals like this.
Taylor Mali (http://www.taylormali.com) is the original author of this piece (so it would be good to name him in the blog post) he also has a number of videos of his work and other pieces of work on his website. his youtube channel has the original piece online (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xuFnP5N2uA)
honestly, i prefer his original than the piece you ended up including in this post...
As an executive for a large company with a rising stock price, I feel the calling to a deeper, more important role as a teacher. Pray that I might have the courage, strength and intelligence to follow my calling.
Erik #16,
The goal of a teacher SHOULD be to reward progress and push them to excel beyond a C+, even if they worked REALLY hard to get there. But it's also important to keep in mind that the people who get As have managed to accomplish something of significant value and should not be ignored in favor of the people who barely-get-by.
Karl, 17:
The fact that a C is considered acceptable is one of the problem with our society. We should never aim for slightly-above-average as the level of success, it drags our standards down to mediocrity.
Pete, 18:
I think you have a point. We need to be cautious of anyone who appears to thinks they function as the lynch pin of society.
Jonathan 20:
That's exactly the point. Everyone gets a trophy, everyone succeeds, a C+ is the Congressional Medal of Honor—what's the point then?
As a culture we like those aspects of life which are measureable. Knowing roughly a persons income gives you a sense of their 'value' to society. I am sure we would agree this is a poor measure but an easily captured piece of information. I like the teachers response because it questions the premise of the ceo's question; how valuable are you. Answering the question would cheapen her as a person not just her working contribution. We are much more concerned with what we do than the nearly immeasureable value of being people of good value.
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