The kids are “bouncing off the walls” this week, especially the ninth graders. We have a two week long holiday break approaching, and mentally the kids are already enjoying it. Tomorrow will be a “lost day” since visions of sugar plums will be floating in their heads.
I have an advantage in science. I can “entertain” my students and trick them into learning something. We are completing a chemistry unit so I am finishing the unit with chemical reactions and equation balancing. Last week I taught about hydrogen and made some as a demonstration. I used mossy zinc and hydrochloric acid. When I ignited the collected gas, I had everyone’s full attention. Then when I did oxygen production and blinded everybody by putting burning magnesium into the pure oxygen, once again I had their full attention.
Class interruptions over the intercom are a constant annoyance. Anyone who has taught knows what I mean. I even had one interruption by a student with a guitar who wanted to serenade me in the middle of a lesson. I’m not sure which class he was skipping, but he left when I nicely told him to “go find some traffic to play in”.
I made extra use of my chalkboard and white boards this past week. Some students like to write on them while others are too shy. I brought in a container of miniature candy canes and used them to generate greater student involvement.
This week I had several visitors from the Spanish class down the hall. I was given two large Christmas cards written in Spanish and three tree decorations that were hand colored with Spanish sentiments written on the back.
The past two days, my students were actually focused on science more than Christmas. We spent the two days doing a lab where they mixed pairs of chemicals to observe the reactions that took place. Keeping students active makes this week before Christmas break a valuable week. A lot of learning has been taking place. I even threatened a test on Friday but canceled it at the last minute. I told them it was a Christmas present.
I haven’t done a whole of insulting lately. It is funny how the kids seem to enjoy being insulted, as long as it is done in a nonthreatening way as part of a bantering exchange. They even laugh at the oldest wise cracks. Yesterday I had a student called to the office and I told her to “make like a tree and leave”.
I think the students enjoy my class since even the ones who are doing poorly don’t want to move to an easier level of work with another teacher. I have had several of last year’s students visit me and tell me they are planning to take physics next year so I can be their teacher again. Gee, maybe I should be cloned?
The day before vacation I always do something loosely related to science and have friendly dialog with my students. I discourage them from bringing any gifts, but a few still do. I am just happy to be working with them and being able to look forward to the upcoming holiday through their eyes.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
The Poor Teacher
Teaching is not considered a high paying job. New teachers barely get by with the starting salary in most states. Then add on the increasing qualifications criteria and the recipe becomes perfect to discourage anyone from entering the profession. So then who wants to become a teacher?
Surprisingly enough, lots of different people do. Most people enter teaching as dedicated professionals. However, some are looking for a job where they have their summers free or just want to coach sports. A large number of both groups don’t survive for very long. Teaching is a grind that wears you down. It takes a unique individual to be able to do it successfully. A listing of the reasons for leaving teaching would find their classroom students down near the bottom of the list. The highest dropout rate among teachers is within the group that enters the profession for the wrong reasons.
The poor teacher has developed a number of self preservation techniques and will do one or more of the following things to excess. Principal observations are treated to a real “dog and pony show” when they are announced. Classroom discipline is maintained through excessive use of office referrals for misbehavior. Students are kept very busy with worksheets that are intermittently graded while videos, many of which are loosely related to the subject matter, are shown to excess. Notes are put on the overhead or white board and the students spend most of the class period copying them. Students are usually given minimal directions or assistance when given assignments and are left pretty much on their own to come up with solutions. Lessons are seldom changed from year to year and the same old lectures are given forever. The teaching contract is often closely followed, especially concerning the hours required. Volunteering for anything is seldom done unless there are adequate benefits or remuneration involved. School property is often appropriated for personal use through a variety of techniques.
I have had to tolerate a number of these teachers in various school districts. One time as department chairman I tried to do something about a poorly performing individual in my department. Not only was nothing done, the hard feelings generated made things uncomfortable for a year or two. Then he moved on to another district. I learned the hard way that teachers can’t do much about other poor teachers. The final responsibility rests with the principal.
Most principals know who the problem teachers are. They don’t always deal with them for a variety of reasons. Some principals just can’t gather sufficient evidence for dismissal while others don’t want the hassle of eliminating bad teachers. Many principals use “backdoor methods” to eliminate poor teachers. The most common “back door” method involves changing the teacher’s assignment to classes with students who not only perform poorly academically but are also exhibiting many discipline problems. One district used to “demote” high school teachers to the middle school in the hope of acquiring a letter of resignation.
The problem with “back door” methods is that they inflict bad teaching on the students who need the best teaching, similar to what happens in many districts when the “new guy” gets the most difficult classes that the experienced teacher tries to avoid.
Tenure protects teachers from unfair termination but does provide methods to eliminate the bad teacher. The reason many principals don’t want to take it on, is the amount of work and time required to process a teacher through the system.
Teacher bonuses to reward good teaching are never trusted as a means to improve teaching. When these awards are based on student performance, it leads to teachers wanting only the better classes where students will score well on tests. The other drawback is the possibility that the awards will be based upon favoritism or nepotism on the part of the principal or superintendent. There really is no fair way to determine how to apportion these bonuses. Not only do they lead to bad feelings among staff members, they don’t have any effect on the quality of teaching.
Every school has a mix of teachers. Just like everything in life involving people they range from excellent through mediocre to poor. Well managed districts with effective administrators tend to have more of the cream while others end up with more of the curds. Teacher associations (unions) are of little help in sorting the curds from the cream. Unfortunately, students suffer the most since not only are they subject to less than the best quality lessons, they also observe the actions of these "do as I say, not as I do" teachers and often use them as role models.
Surprisingly enough, lots of different people do. Most people enter teaching as dedicated professionals. However, some are looking for a job where they have their summers free or just want to coach sports. A large number of both groups don’t survive for very long. Teaching is a grind that wears you down. It takes a unique individual to be able to do it successfully. A listing of the reasons for leaving teaching would find their classroom students down near the bottom of the list. The highest dropout rate among teachers is within the group that enters the profession for the wrong reasons.
The poor teacher has developed a number of self preservation techniques and will do one or more of the following things to excess. Principal observations are treated to a real “dog and pony show” when they are announced. Classroom discipline is maintained through excessive use of office referrals for misbehavior. Students are kept very busy with worksheets that are intermittently graded while videos, many of which are loosely related to the subject matter, are shown to excess. Notes are put on the overhead or white board and the students spend most of the class period copying them. Students are usually given minimal directions or assistance when given assignments and are left pretty much on their own to come up with solutions. Lessons are seldom changed from year to year and the same old lectures are given forever. The teaching contract is often closely followed, especially concerning the hours required. Volunteering for anything is seldom done unless there are adequate benefits or remuneration involved. School property is often appropriated for personal use through a variety of techniques.
I have had to tolerate a number of these teachers in various school districts. One time as department chairman I tried to do something about a poorly performing individual in my department. Not only was nothing done, the hard feelings generated made things uncomfortable for a year or two. Then he moved on to another district. I learned the hard way that teachers can’t do much about other poor teachers. The final responsibility rests with the principal.
Most principals know who the problem teachers are. They don’t always deal with them for a variety of reasons. Some principals just can’t gather sufficient evidence for dismissal while others don’t want the hassle of eliminating bad teachers. Many principals use “backdoor methods” to eliminate poor teachers. The most common “back door” method involves changing the teacher’s assignment to classes with students who not only perform poorly academically but are also exhibiting many discipline problems. One district used to “demote” high school teachers to the middle school in the hope of acquiring a letter of resignation.
The problem with “back door” methods is that they inflict bad teaching on the students who need the best teaching, similar to what happens in many districts when the “new guy” gets the most difficult classes that the experienced teacher tries to avoid.
Tenure protects teachers from unfair termination but does provide methods to eliminate the bad teacher. The reason many principals don’t want to take it on, is the amount of work and time required to process a teacher through the system.
Teacher bonuses to reward good teaching are never trusted as a means to improve teaching. When these awards are based on student performance, it leads to teachers wanting only the better classes where students will score well on tests. The other drawback is the possibility that the awards will be based upon favoritism or nepotism on the part of the principal or superintendent. There really is no fair way to determine how to apportion these bonuses. Not only do they lead to bad feelings among staff members, they don’t have any effect on the quality of teaching.
Every school has a mix of teachers. Just like everything in life involving people they range from excellent through mediocre to poor. Well managed districts with effective administrators tend to have more of the cream while others end up with more of the curds. Teacher associations (unions) are of little help in sorting the curds from the cream. Unfortunately, students suffer the most since not only are they subject to less than the best quality lessons, they also observe the actions of these "do as I say, not as I do" teachers and often use them as role models.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
The Changing of the Guard Part II
After two years at the junior high school, I was transferred to the high school where I got to know several excellent educators. Sam made an immediate impression on me. A tall, stocky man with a completely hairless dome and a strongly Italian accent, he was an imposing presence in the classroom. He had no discipline problems at all. He had an undeserved reputation as a man to be feared. Sam always wore has class ring, which had a giant red stone. Early in his career he would use corporal punishment and once slapped a student. Unfortunately he caught the student with his ring a cut his cheek. That was the last time he touched a student.
When I knew him, he was mellow and laid back. As an experienced teacher, he had developed more relaxed and refined discipline methods. The students enjoyed his classes and I enjoyed his company. I valued his advice and improved as a teacher because of it. Sam retired many years ago and recently passed away. He had a long, successful teaching career and enjoyed over twenty years in retirement.
George was a fellow science teacher. He taught the chemistry classes and could teach physics if needed. He set high standards and expected the students to attain those standards. George’s curriculum was demanding and prepared students for college courses in the sciences. At the same time he was able to tailor chemistry classes for students who were more oriented for trade schools rather than for a four year college. George had a long, successful teaching career but developed cancer and died before he was able to retire.
I also knew a couple of teachers who at first made very strong, positive impressions on me. Ray was an excellent math teacher with very high standards and an excellent ambassador for the teaching profession. He was an excellent negotiator for teaching contracts with a focus on what was good for the students as well as the teachers. Unfortunately, he moved into administration and became the antithesis of everything he stood for earlier in his career. Eventually he became the superintendent of the school district and when he died, few people remembered anything about his years in the classroom.
Bruce was my department head and I learned more from him about organizing and preparing a good science lesson in my first year with the district than I had learned in four years of college. He had made a reputation by consistently advising state and national science fair winners. He taught the advanced chemistry and physics classes and brought many national science grants to the school district. His goals were set much higher than the classroom and as he moved into district position, the science grants dried up and budgetary cutbacks became commonplace. By the time he worked his way into the position of Superintendent of Schools, his classroom career was pretty much forgotten and a teacher antagonistic school board made the position so difficult that he had little positive impact on the educational system.
Ray and Bruce helped me develop improved classroom techniques. They also showed me how detrimental weak leadership is to the educational process.
My high school principal, Curt, was my immediate “boss” for 18 years. He was a well respected sports official until his legs gave out. We often noticed that his office door was closed after he officiated a state championship match. The rumor was that he was “napping”. I don’t know if that was true or not, but I do know what was true. Curt would defend his teachers against any questionable criticism. He would also defend teachers against complaints about decisions being made that affected students in an adverse way. Then, if the teacher’s action was not a good one, he would quietly point that out to the teacher after the parent had left. The smart teacher would then correct the problem.
Curt required weekly lesson plans so he was always aware of what was happening in the classrooms. I used to wonder if he read them and would sometimes turn in plans that were short and cryptic. I remember the week I turned in these plans: Monday-Mars, Tuesday-Venus, Wednesday-Jupiter, Thursday-Saturn, Friday-asteroids. That is when I discovered that Curt did read the plans. I spent ten minutes with him. The next day I had acceptable plans turned in and he paid special attention to me for a few weeks after that.
Curt showed many of the characteristics of an excellent high school principal. He defended teachers when they were unjustly accused by anybody- parent or board member. He supported their decisions and actions as long as they followed established policies. He would quietly discipline teachers who needed it and was always up front with any teacher in all of his actions. He always acted for in the best interests of everyone concerned. He was as fair with the students as he was with his teachers. He interacted with the students in a friendly manner and new many of them by name.
Curt was satisfied being a high school principal and served for many years until retiring and eventually moving to Florida.
When we moved to the west coast and I eventually returned to teaching, I worked under two other principals who played important roles in the development of my teaching career. John was a guidance counselor who worked his way up to being a middle school principal. His interaction with students was a very important aspect of his position. Students felt at ease with him, even when being disciplined.
John had some health problems from his time in Vietnam and found decision making to be very difficult. He was in a difficult position working in a school where teachers wanted to do things their own way and were often less than cooperative. Many of the attitudes were surprising to me and a number of them appeared to have their own agendas ranked ahead of what was best for the students. For example, most were against grouping by ability because it was easier to control a class that had very bright students scattered among students who could care less about school. They didn’t seem to mind that the bright students were held back from achieving their full potential and the slow students were unable to handle the level of work being taught (a middle ground approach). John hit a wall more than once. When he did make a decision I didn’t agree with, his door was always open and I could go in and tell him what I thought. He never held anything I said against me. That was one of several things I respected him for.
When John was encouraged to leave, I had to take part in a juvenile, distasteful proceeding. The district held a special retreat for all of the staff in the building to cleanse themselves of John’s tenure. It was felt that everyone harbored bad feelings that prevented them from moving forward under new leadership. That somehow everyone must have been psychologically injured. I wanted to vomit when I heard this plan but I was contractually obligated to take part. Here were professional people who were preparing young people to be successful and they had all of these hang-ups over a principal most of them never really supported. When everyone had to write down any bad feelings they had for John and then discard them into a trash container as they filed by, I knew then I wanted to find a high school situation. John is happy today. He is retired and working as a substitute teacher. I run into him once in a while and we swap some stories.
I spent a few more years here working under an excellent principal who had come out of retirement to be John’s vice principal. Tom had taken an early retirement from teaching to take care of his son. His son had a number of personal problems and John gave up his career to care for him and renew their father-son relationship. I respected him for that and stayed on to work with him.
Tom was in a difficult position as he had to work with a difficult staff. Many of the teachers were dedicated, but many others were self focused. One science teacher had spent most of his career telling science fiction stories instead of teaching science. His students were a disaster when they hit high school. When he retired, his replacement was a know-it-all fresh out of college who caused me all sorts of grief. A female teacher was especially vindictive and made me the focus of her attacks. Knowing I didn’t need to put up with the downslide of teaching expertise surrounding me, I became very active looking for another position. The year Tom retired, following a three year “healing program”, I also moved on to my present position.
Tom was very humanistic in his approach. He weighed all of decisions carefully before making them. He interacted with the students and always had their best interests as the basis for each and every decision. I was pleased to have worked with him for the years that I did. After he retired, he was constantly approached by other districts who wanted him to run one of their buildings to correct some problems that had become apparent.
These two blogs have been about people who have been part of my professional life and helped me become the teacher I am today. I hope that as you have read them, that you have thought about a teacher or principal who had a positive affect on your own life.
When I knew him, he was mellow and laid back. As an experienced teacher, he had developed more relaxed and refined discipline methods. The students enjoyed his classes and I enjoyed his company. I valued his advice and improved as a teacher because of it. Sam retired many years ago and recently passed away. He had a long, successful teaching career and enjoyed over twenty years in retirement.
George was a fellow science teacher. He taught the chemistry classes and could teach physics if needed. He set high standards and expected the students to attain those standards. George’s curriculum was demanding and prepared students for college courses in the sciences. At the same time he was able to tailor chemistry classes for students who were more oriented for trade schools rather than for a four year college. George had a long, successful teaching career but developed cancer and died before he was able to retire.
I also knew a couple of teachers who at first made very strong, positive impressions on me. Ray was an excellent math teacher with very high standards and an excellent ambassador for the teaching profession. He was an excellent negotiator for teaching contracts with a focus on what was good for the students as well as the teachers. Unfortunately, he moved into administration and became the antithesis of everything he stood for earlier in his career. Eventually he became the superintendent of the school district and when he died, few people remembered anything about his years in the classroom.
Bruce was my department head and I learned more from him about organizing and preparing a good science lesson in my first year with the district than I had learned in four years of college. He had made a reputation by consistently advising state and national science fair winners. He taught the advanced chemistry and physics classes and brought many national science grants to the school district. His goals were set much higher than the classroom and as he moved into district position, the science grants dried up and budgetary cutbacks became commonplace. By the time he worked his way into the position of Superintendent of Schools, his classroom career was pretty much forgotten and a teacher antagonistic school board made the position so difficult that he had little positive impact on the educational system.
Ray and Bruce helped me develop improved classroom techniques. They also showed me how detrimental weak leadership is to the educational process.
My high school principal, Curt, was my immediate “boss” for 18 years. He was a well respected sports official until his legs gave out. We often noticed that his office door was closed after he officiated a state championship match. The rumor was that he was “napping”. I don’t know if that was true or not, but I do know what was true. Curt would defend his teachers against any questionable criticism. He would also defend teachers against complaints about decisions being made that affected students in an adverse way. Then, if the teacher’s action was not a good one, he would quietly point that out to the teacher after the parent had left. The smart teacher would then correct the problem.
Curt required weekly lesson plans so he was always aware of what was happening in the classrooms. I used to wonder if he read them and would sometimes turn in plans that were short and cryptic. I remember the week I turned in these plans: Monday-Mars, Tuesday-Venus, Wednesday-Jupiter, Thursday-Saturn, Friday-asteroids. That is when I discovered that Curt did read the plans. I spent ten minutes with him. The next day I had acceptable plans turned in and he paid special attention to me for a few weeks after that.
Curt showed many of the characteristics of an excellent high school principal. He defended teachers when they were unjustly accused by anybody- parent or board member. He supported their decisions and actions as long as they followed established policies. He would quietly discipline teachers who needed it and was always up front with any teacher in all of his actions. He always acted for in the best interests of everyone concerned. He was as fair with the students as he was with his teachers. He interacted with the students in a friendly manner and new many of them by name.
Curt was satisfied being a high school principal and served for many years until retiring and eventually moving to Florida.
When we moved to the west coast and I eventually returned to teaching, I worked under two other principals who played important roles in the development of my teaching career. John was a guidance counselor who worked his way up to being a middle school principal. His interaction with students was a very important aspect of his position. Students felt at ease with him, even when being disciplined.
John had some health problems from his time in Vietnam and found decision making to be very difficult. He was in a difficult position working in a school where teachers wanted to do things their own way and were often less than cooperative. Many of the attitudes were surprising to me and a number of them appeared to have their own agendas ranked ahead of what was best for the students. For example, most were against grouping by ability because it was easier to control a class that had very bright students scattered among students who could care less about school. They didn’t seem to mind that the bright students were held back from achieving their full potential and the slow students were unable to handle the level of work being taught (a middle ground approach). John hit a wall more than once. When he did make a decision I didn’t agree with, his door was always open and I could go in and tell him what I thought. He never held anything I said against me. That was one of several things I respected him for.
When John was encouraged to leave, I had to take part in a juvenile, distasteful proceeding. The district held a special retreat for all of the staff in the building to cleanse themselves of John’s tenure. It was felt that everyone harbored bad feelings that prevented them from moving forward under new leadership. That somehow everyone must have been psychologically injured. I wanted to vomit when I heard this plan but I was contractually obligated to take part. Here were professional people who were preparing young people to be successful and they had all of these hang-ups over a principal most of them never really supported. When everyone had to write down any bad feelings they had for John and then discard them into a trash container as they filed by, I knew then I wanted to find a high school situation. John is happy today. He is retired and working as a substitute teacher. I run into him once in a while and we swap some stories.
I spent a few more years here working under an excellent principal who had come out of retirement to be John’s vice principal. Tom had taken an early retirement from teaching to take care of his son. His son had a number of personal problems and John gave up his career to care for him and renew their father-son relationship. I respected him for that and stayed on to work with him.
Tom was in a difficult position as he had to work with a difficult staff. Many of the teachers were dedicated, but many others were self focused. One science teacher had spent most of his career telling science fiction stories instead of teaching science. His students were a disaster when they hit high school. When he retired, his replacement was a know-it-all fresh out of college who caused me all sorts of grief. A female teacher was especially vindictive and made me the focus of her attacks. Knowing I didn’t need to put up with the downslide of teaching expertise surrounding me, I became very active looking for another position. The year Tom retired, following a three year “healing program”, I also moved on to my present position.
Tom was very humanistic in his approach. He weighed all of decisions carefully before making them. He interacted with the students and always had their best interests as the basis for each and every decision. I was pleased to have worked with him for the years that I did. After he retired, he was constantly approached by other districts who wanted him to run one of their buildings to correct some problems that had become apparent.
These two blogs have been about people who have been part of my professional life and helped me become the teacher I am today. I hope that as you have read them, that you have thought about a teacher or principal who had a positive affect on your own life.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
The Changing of the Guard
During my years in education I have worked with a variety of educators. Many of them had a positive influence on my career. Teachers come and go. (I have even come and gone a few times myself.) Some teachers are hardly missed, while others leave a gaping hole to be filled. I have encountered a number of teachers who fit one of those categories.
I have been influenced in a number of ways by my fellow educators. These influences have helped me become the teacher I am today. A number of these people from my early days as a teacher are often in my thoughts. I thought I’d share a few of them with you. It will be nice to have others get to know a little bit about these people. Even though they are gone, they are not forgotten.
Ann was a home economics teacher at my first school. She was a good friend and very active with a chapter of the FHA. She always had a large membership and was very popular with the students and faculty. She chaperoned the prom each year and would critique my date. She especially complimented me when she and a group of her students were meeting at a restaurant where my future wife and I stopped for dinner.
Reid was my first principal. He was from the old school and wouldn’t hesitate to use corporal punishment when he felt it was warranted. His methods were too old fashioned for his bosses and he was convinced to retire several years before he was ready to do so. He taught me to be consistent and fair when disciplining students.
Jim was the guidance counselor. He and I hit it off from the day I met him. He had an earlier career as a physical therapist who worked mostly with the elderly. Jim was burnt out and gave up that career to work with young people. He had a special ability and made good connections with our students. We used to go to the Friday night basketball games together and then stay out until near sunrise drinking beer and eating pizza. Then I’d crash at Jim’s place, sleep for about an hour, then head home and drink some cold coffee before going to Lehigh University for my Saturday class. The funny thing is that I don’t like beer and I seldom drink coffee hot, let alone cold. After the second time, we scaled things back to about an hour after each game. I had sowed enough wild oats.
The principal, Peter, who replaced Reid, wanted Jim to be his partner for applying corporal punishment. Several teachers wanted the paddle used on miscreants but would not do it themselves. They would call for Peter and Jim to apply the punishment. Jim soon told Peter that witnessing punishment was interfering with his role as a counselor. Jim’s relationship with students was a strong one. It was broken when he suffered a stroke and was moved into a nursing home to spend his few remaining years among the elderly receiving physical therapy to help him recover his speech and regain some movement in his arm and leg.
Jim was the best man at my wedding and the first true friend I made in my teaching career. I lost track of him when his brother moved him to New Jersey but I believe he died within a few years after his stroke. Life wasn’t fair to him but the last time I visited him in the nursing home he was cantankerous and still demonstrated a great sense of humor.
When I changed school districts, I accepted a position at a junior high school. There were several long term teachers working in the building with me. Irma had over thirty years of teaching experience and lived with her two sisters. One of her sisters, Kathryn, taught English in the high school. The other took care of their house. A brother, John, was a maintenance supervisor for the school district. They were an important part of the educational system.
I enjoyed getting to know Irma. She taught seventh grade geography. Rote memorization was an important part of her curriculum. She related well to the kids and they seemed to enjoy her class as much as preteens can enjoy anything related to education. Unfortunately she got caught up in the drive to discredit memorization as a teaching method and the drive to take geography out of the junior high school curriculum and integrate it into social studies. When geography was dropped, Irma was forced into an early retirement. She always felt unappreciated by the administration.
Charlie was the eighth grade science teacher with over thirty years of experience. He had developed an effective curriculum coupled with methods that modern educational theory considers to be outdated. Charlie eventually decided that battling with the department chairman wasn’t worth all of the stress it caused. He retired and I lost track of him. He was a great resource to a young teacher.
More later ....
I have been influenced in a number of ways by my fellow educators. These influences have helped me become the teacher I am today. A number of these people from my early days as a teacher are often in my thoughts. I thought I’d share a few of them with you. It will be nice to have others get to know a little bit about these people. Even though they are gone, they are not forgotten.
Ann was a home economics teacher at my first school. She was a good friend and very active with a chapter of the FHA. She always had a large membership and was very popular with the students and faculty. She chaperoned the prom each year and would critique my date. She especially complimented me when she and a group of her students were meeting at a restaurant where my future wife and I stopped for dinner.
Reid was my first principal. He was from the old school and wouldn’t hesitate to use corporal punishment when he felt it was warranted. His methods were too old fashioned for his bosses and he was convinced to retire several years before he was ready to do so. He taught me to be consistent and fair when disciplining students.
Jim was the guidance counselor. He and I hit it off from the day I met him. He had an earlier career as a physical therapist who worked mostly with the elderly. Jim was burnt out and gave up that career to work with young people. He had a special ability and made good connections with our students. We used to go to the Friday night basketball games together and then stay out until near sunrise drinking beer and eating pizza. Then I’d crash at Jim’s place, sleep for about an hour, then head home and drink some cold coffee before going to Lehigh University for my Saturday class. The funny thing is that I don’t like beer and I seldom drink coffee hot, let alone cold. After the second time, we scaled things back to about an hour after each game. I had sowed enough wild oats.
The principal, Peter, who replaced Reid, wanted Jim to be his partner for applying corporal punishment. Several teachers wanted the paddle used on miscreants but would not do it themselves. They would call for Peter and Jim to apply the punishment. Jim soon told Peter that witnessing punishment was interfering with his role as a counselor. Jim’s relationship with students was a strong one. It was broken when he suffered a stroke and was moved into a nursing home to spend his few remaining years among the elderly receiving physical therapy to help him recover his speech and regain some movement in his arm and leg.
Jim was the best man at my wedding and the first true friend I made in my teaching career. I lost track of him when his brother moved him to New Jersey but I believe he died within a few years after his stroke. Life wasn’t fair to him but the last time I visited him in the nursing home he was cantankerous and still demonstrated a great sense of humor.
When I changed school districts, I accepted a position at a junior high school. There were several long term teachers working in the building with me. Irma had over thirty years of teaching experience and lived with her two sisters. One of her sisters, Kathryn, taught English in the high school. The other took care of their house. A brother, John, was a maintenance supervisor for the school district. They were an important part of the educational system.
I enjoyed getting to know Irma. She taught seventh grade geography. Rote memorization was an important part of her curriculum. She related well to the kids and they seemed to enjoy her class as much as preteens can enjoy anything related to education. Unfortunately she got caught up in the drive to discredit memorization as a teaching method and the drive to take geography out of the junior high school curriculum and integrate it into social studies. When geography was dropped, Irma was forced into an early retirement. She always felt unappreciated by the administration.
Charlie was the eighth grade science teacher with over thirty years of experience. He had developed an effective curriculum coupled with methods that modern educational theory considers to be outdated. Charlie eventually decided that battling with the department chairman wasn’t worth all of the stress it caused. He retired and I lost track of him. He was a great resource to a young teacher.
More later ....
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