I Have a Head and a Heart for Teaching.
In January of 1997, the headmaster of Cruger-Tchula Academy called and asked if I would be willing and able to teach the junior and senior English classes until the end of the school year. I was certain that I was willing—I was newly graduated from college and although I was already working in the schools with an AmeriCorps reading program, I could stand the additional part-time income—but I was not sure of my ability beyond reporting for “duty” each day. I had not had any formal training and my only other experiences included working as a peer tutor in the writing lab at Delta State University and working with the reading program in local elementary schools. Although I had intended to spend one more year enrolled in the teacher certification program, I had instead graduated early so that my husband could take a job in Texas that never materialized. And so, much like the window that is opened when the proverbial door closes, the headmaster of Cruger-Tchula Academy was offering me a chance to teach after all. I walked into that classroom on the first day with a textbook in my hand, a world full of ideas in my head, and a whole lot of love in my heart.
The students at Cruger-Tchula Academy gave me an education; they showed me that I already had two of the most important qualities of good teaching: ideas and love. When I say ideas, I mean that I approached learning creatively; I strove always to bring the knowledge to them in meaningful ways. I asked them to reach, but not so high that they wouldn’t try. I made the classroom a safe space for learning and they came to learn. I reminded them that learning is fun and they had fun learning. I created assignments and projects that challenged them individually and as a group. Then, I loved them through the learning. I encouraged each student to achieve his or her personal best, to improve on an individual scale and to treat him or herself with patience and kindness. I modeled care and concern and encouraged them to create a learning community. Group projects bonded the students together. They learned to use the knowledge of their collective strengths and weaknesses to support each other and ultimately excel. They opened up; they gave, and they received.
Two Cruger-Tchula students, in particular, stand out to me. One, Beth, gave me a gift—literally and figuratively. She gave me a newer edition of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books than the one I had regularly read to her class from. She had enjoyed the stories and started reading them on her own. In this book, she had found one of the opening quotations to be meaningful in relation to the two of us. She highlighted it and told me in a note to be sure to read it: “One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feeling. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.” (Carl Jung) Another student, Pam, had suffered the loss of her young husband and father of her unborn son shortly after graduation, but had persevered and made a new life for herself. A couple of years ago, I searched the web to see if Cruger-Tchula was still operating and came across a posting by Pam, looking for former teachers. I replied, and we have been in contact since then. One of the first things she told me was that she still had the magnet I had given her that said: “Never place a period where God has placed a comma.” She lived by that rule. I think these students stand out to me because they remind me that teaching goes both ways and is much more than conveying subject matter.
Teaching is hard work. In “real life,” it rarely sounds as light and airy as my experience suggests; however, I do not believe that any great teacher does not feel light and airy on the inside when she thinks about what teaching means to her. Teaching is a human art, and, by definition, there is beauty in art—in its creation and it its fruition. I am a human artist with a head and a heart for teaching.
© Nicole Williams
all rights reserved
The students at Cruger-Tchula Academy gave me an education; they showed me that I already had two of the most important qualities of good teaching: ideas and love. When I say ideas, I mean that I approached learning creatively; I strove always to bring the knowledge to them in meaningful ways. I asked them to reach, but not so high that they wouldn’t try. I made the classroom a safe space for learning and they came to learn. I reminded them that learning is fun and they had fun learning. I created assignments and projects that challenged them individually and as a group. Then, I loved them through the learning. I encouraged each student to achieve his or her personal best, to improve on an individual scale and to treat him or herself with patience and kindness. I modeled care and concern and encouraged them to create a learning community. Group projects bonded the students together. They learned to use the knowledge of their collective strengths and weaknesses to support each other and ultimately excel. They opened up; they gave, and they received.
Two Cruger-Tchula students, in particular, stand out to me. One, Beth, gave me a gift—literally and figuratively. She gave me a newer edition of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books than the one I had regularly read to her class from. She had enjoyed the stories and started reading them on her own. In this book, she had found one of the opening quotations to be meaningful in relation to the two of us. She highlighted it and told me in a note to be sure to read it: “One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feeling. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.” (Carl Jung) Another student, Pam, had suffered the loss of her young husband and father of her unborn son shortly after graduation, but had persevered and made a new life for herself. A couple of years ago, I searched the web to see if Cruger-Tchula was still operating and came across a posting by Pam, looking for former teachers. I replied, and we have been in contact since then. One of the first things she told me was that she still had the magnet I had given her that said: “Never place a period where God has placed a comma.” She lived by that rule. I think these students stand out to me because they remind me that teaching goes both ways and is much more than conveying subject matter.
Teaching is hard work. In “real life,” it rarely sounds as light and airy as my experience suggests; however, I do not believe that any great teacher does not feel light and airy on the inside when she thinks about what teaching means to her. Teaching is a human art, and, by definition, there is beauty in art—in its creation and it its fruition. I am a human artist with a head and a heart for teaching.
© Nicole Williams
all rights reserved
posted by Allyn Evans at 7:20 PM
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