Reflections on teaching
I had the pleasure last night of reuniting with a former student of mine whom I taught when I taught English at St. Ignatius in San Francisco. She was a student in my sophomore English class the first year I began teaching in 1993. As a teacher, we tend to remember that first year very vividly, largely because the first year of teaching is typically a year of minor tragedies and major errors interspersed with some small victories. Mine was no different.
In any case, this former student of mine is now and English teacher at Albany High School here in the East Bay and she mentioned to me during the course of our conversation that she was inspired by our English class to love literature and that the class was the first time she felt that she could be good at studying English. She is now in her fourth year of teaching, moderating the school Yearbook and doing very well for herself, clearly happy at her job.
As an administrator, it’s not often that students come back to tell you that they were inspired by your work disciplining them or changing a school rule for them. Often times, the work of an administrator is tranparent to the vast majority of students. That’s why I always say that the magic of a school happens not in my office but in the classrooms. Occasionally, like last night, I still get some feedback about the times when I taught in the classroom and I treasure those moments immensely. Knowing that one’s work had a psitive impact on the lives of real people is a priceless reward that few jobs allow one to have. As a principal, I have faith in the fact that our work here at school in our offices has a positive impact on our teachers and allows them to continue their good work with our students. However, a conversation like last night reminds me of the power of teaching – it affects lives.
Tags: teaching
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