Let Teachers Teach

In eighth grade, I had this amazing history teacher. His name was Mr. Roberts and he was an assistant coach on the high school football team and helped with weight lifting for many of the other sports teams (I think.)

He was amazing because he made history come alive and while I had always -- and still do -- loved history, I knew several people in my class that didn't share the same passion. But then Mr. Roberts would roll out his own personal stocks and he would put some kid in there for a day. He had his own guillotine, and he used newspaper Halloween masks to perform beheadings of King Henry the VIII's different wives.

For one of my favorite projects, Mr. Roberts placed a crown on his head and declared himself the King of England, put us in companies that were off to settle America and had us write journals as to how we prepared for the voyage across the Atlantic. If we didn't mention in our journals that we had brought dried fruit, he would tell us that we got scurvy. Once we reached the colonies, if we didn't sign a peace treaty with the Chief (also Mr. Roberts, wearing a headdress) then the Indians would poison our water source or burn down our fort. The company that lasted the longest won. We got to name our ships, and I'm pretty sure that we got bonus points if we named our ship after a Beatles reference.

During the Revolutionary War unit, we had to make a Colonial newspaper. I had fun coming up with different Classifieds and writing the obituaries. We had to interview one of the Patriots.

And then in the Spring, class shut down and we didn't do any learning through activities and presentations, group projects and crazy stunts from Mr. Roberts. Instead, we had boring lectures and flash cards, all presenting the information that we needed in order to complete the standardized test that was coming up. Every single one of us hated those two weeks and the test afterward. I still hate standardized tests, because I do not take them well. Mr. Roberts was as stressed as we were. We were yelled at for talking when throughout the year we had done nothing but laugh as we learned.

In Washington D.C. on Sunday, there was a SAVE OUR SCHOOLS rally. Matt Damon flew in to speak because his mother, a long-time teacher, asked him to speak. His speech was empowering, I think, and worth reading.

“I flew overnight from Vancouver to be with you today. I landed in New York a few hours ago and caught a flight down here because I needed to tell you all in person that I think you’re awesome.

I was raised by a teacher. My mother is a professor of early childhood education. And from the time I went to kindergarten through my senior year in high school, I went to public schools. I wouldn’t trade that education and experience for anything.

I had incredible teachers. As I look at my life today, the things I value most about myself — my imagination, my love of acting, my passion for writing, my love of learning, my curiosity — all come from how I was parented and taught.
And none of these qualities that I’ve just mentioned — none of these qualities that I prize so deeply, that have brought me so much joy, that have brought me so much professional success — none of these qualities that make me who I am … can be tested.

I said before that I had incredible teachers. And that’s true. But it’s more than that. My teachers were EMPOWERED to teach me. Their time wasn’t taken up with a bunch of test prep — this silly drill and kill nonsense that any serious person knows doesn’t promote real learning. No, my teachers were free to approach me and every other kid in that classroom like an individual puzzle. They took so much care in figuring out who we were and how to best make the lessons resonate with each of us. They were empowered to unlock our potential. They were allowed to be teachers.

Now don’t get me wrong. I did have a brush with standardized tests at one point. I remember because my mom went to the principal’s office and said, ‘My kid ain’t taking that. It’s stupid, it won’t tell you anything and it’ll just make him nervous.’ That was in the ’70s when you could talk like that.
I shudder to think that these tests are being used today to control where funding goes.

I don’t know where I would be today if my teachers’ job security was based on how I performed on some standardized test. If their very survival as teachers was based on whether I actually fell in love with the process of learning but rather if I could fill in the right bubble on a test. If they had to spend most of their time desperately drilling us and less time encouraging creativity and original ideas; less time knowing who we were, seeing our strengths and helping us realize our talents.

I honestly don’t know where I’d be today if that was the type of education I had. I sure as hell wouldn’t be here. I do know that.

This has been a horrible decade for teachers. I can’t imagine how demoralized you must feel. But I came here today to deliver an important message to you: As I get older, I appreciate more and more the teachers that I had growing up. And I’m not alone. There are millions of people just like me.

So the next time you’re feeling down, or exhausted, or unappreciated, or at the end of your rope; the next time you turn on the TV and see yourself called “overpaid;” the next time you encounter some simple-minded, punitive policy that’s been driven into your life by some corporate reformer who has literally never taught anyone anything. … Please know that there are millions of us behind you. You have an army of regular people standing right behind you, and our appreciation for what you do is so deeply felt. We love you, we thank you and we will always have your back.”
(Via the Washington Post)

Not every teacher I had was amazing. But I can say that I had more good teachers than bad teachers. And I believe I can still name them all. For a long time, I was one of those weird kids that enjoyed school and it was because of these special teachers that loved and believed in what they were doing. For a while, I have debated about whether or not I wanted to become a licensed teacher. If I do, I want to be the kind of teacher that Mr. Roberts was for 90% of the school year. Not the kind of teacher that he had to be in order to make sure we passed those tests. And that was when I was in eighth grade. My sister who graduated just a year behind me, had more tests to take than I did.

As a nation, we can't continue to think that standardized testing is a way to dictate our school systems. It stifles creativity and learning. No wonder the kids of today depend so heavily on video games and the media to provide entertainment.

Crisis Averted

After sacrament meeting today, my roommate turned to me and said, "Hey, are you teaching today?"

"No."

I said it immediately without thinking. I had not prepared a lesson. I didn't want to teach. I was supposed to teach the Sunday after I get back from Ohio. There was no way I was teaching today. But I had this nagging feeling that I should probably check...just in case.

So, I was scheduled to teach! Talk about a heart stopping, want to die type position. Sacrament meeting was over, I did not have the Ensign talks that I was supposed to be teaching from, and I was in a panic. Also, I looked hideous, and I tend to like to look better on days that I teach...

I raced home as fast as I could (walking) and had exactly one half hour to print out the talks and figure out what I needed to be teaching on. The lucky thing is, I love the Teaching for our Times messages. All the talks given in any general conference are good and they all have pertinent information. Also, the talks (found here and here) came from the the Ensign, so it isn't likely any of the girls studied ahead or anything and everything I read would be something they heard/read awhile ago.

I showed back up in Relief Society with enough time to catch my breath and act totally calm and collected, as if I knew I had been teaching forever and was ready to go. All the while praying that things would go well. Even when the president of the Relief Society came up and confirmed that I was teaching (ha!) I said, "Oh, yeah, of course I totally have this covered..." As if I hadn't asked her just after Sacrament if she had the teaching schedule on her...which she didn't.

I didn't admit to anyone that it was a surprise to me that I didn't know I was supposed to be teaching. I didn't apologize for "taking the majority of my lesson straight from the talks." I just stood in front of the group with my outlined talks, with a few questions written in the margins, and I taught. And I encouraged as many comments as they would give me.

Yes, I did read a little bit more than I would have liked. But the material was good and the girls were all very quiet. I couldn't tell whether or not they were falling asleep or really attentive. But, there were plenty of comments, so I think that hints at the latter - a great relief to me, as my biggest fear is being a boring teacher. The lesson went great considering the amount of preparation, and maybe even just considering. I got befuddled once and that was just because one of the great comments jumped ahead a bit and I couldn't decide whether to skip material to catch up or leave it to come back to later. I also ended perfectly on time, which I worried that I wouldn't have enough material prepared.  I could have gone on longer if necessary, but it wasn't necessary.

In fact, after I ended my lesson perfectly on time (the only time I'm on time...) the Bishop got up to speak. Now, for some reason, the Bishop feels the need to get up and speak to us nearly every time he visits the relief society and it isn't always on the lesson, and it isn't always... I don't know. Sometimes I think he just likes to talk to us. And then AFTER that the president got up and added her comments. I always think this is a little superfluous, and I hate when I get jipped out of singing the closing song. But I ended on time (with 10 minutes to go) and that was what matters. I still would have liked to sing all the verses, though.

It's just a testimony to me that the Lord works with what He has. And sometimes all He has is an ill-prepared misfit of a teacher. My visiting teacher came up to me and thanked me for teaching with the Spirit. That's all I had to go by. I know that anything that touched the girls while I was teaching came strictly through the Holy Ghost, and had little to do with me. Obviously the talks that were used as the lesson material were inspired when they were given.

I can't believe how many of the girls went out of their way to thank me for a lesson I was sure would be awful and boring. One girl asked me if I enjoyed teaching, and when I admitted that I did not, she said, "Why? You're so good." That just baffles me. I've always thought of myself as a terrible teacher. It was the reason I changed my major all those many years ago. When I told her it was because I thought I read too much, she said, "No," I didn't. I asked the right questions, led a good discussion and brought the Spirit into the class.

Really, I think it is the girls in our ward that bring the Spirit into the class. They are typically very reverent, responsive to questions and just have really great, awesome life experiences to add to the class. I have been very blessed to be in this ward and to be a part of this Relief Society.

I usually try really hard to avoid getting to know the girls in my ward. I'm only interested in the boys...they're better looking, more interesting, funnier, etc. But the girls in this ward have really worked their way into my heart and I'm almost sad to be leaving now that I am moving out.

And now I sound like a member of the Relief Society...

So I'll just sign off. But I really did think that today was an amazing example of how the Lord works through other people (Cami reminding me about my lesson) and through our inadequacies and poor preparation in order to create a perfectly acceptable and inspiring lesson for those that needed to hear it. It's kind of cool to see things work out like that, and I'm beginning to think that I don't dislike teaching nearly as much as I thought I did.

Of course, that could just be because the compliments are going to my head.

First Relief Society Lesson

If you want some good reading material, I recommend reading President Uchtdorf's Two Principles for Any Economy which was one of the talks that I had to teach from in Relief Society at Church today. The other was President Eyring's Be Ready. Which was also fabulous.

Overall the lesson seemed to go pretty well. I got several comments after and then some after ward prayer that either says that the girls in my ward are super nice (they are) or that it went OK. I was very grateful that I had several girls who participated and said some really great comments. The whole flow of my lesson went pretty well, with only one major pause, but I think that worked to my advantage. I have really no idea what the girls were thinking during the lesson, but I didn't notice the few girls who always sit in the back and whisper and talk, so either I was too nervous to notice them, they were actually listening, or more than likely, weren't there today. Which was great.

I wished the whole Sunday that I could move Relief Society to be the first meeting. I just wanted to get it over with. I wasn't nervous, just anxious to see how it all panned out. In the end, I'm just grateful that the Spirit is really who teaches and has very little to do with me. Once I've prepared and prayed, there really isn't much more I can do.

There were a few amazing quotes. I'd put a few of President Uchtdorf's on my wall if I could.

Work is an antidote for anxiety, an ointment for sorrow and a doorway to possibility.

Let us not devote our God-given talents and energies solely to setting early anchors, but rather let us spend our days growing spiritual wings. For, as [daughters] of the Most High God, we were created to soar unto new horizons.