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There
is no such thing as the perfect student, classroom or teacher, writes
Sydney Chaffee. Instead, we must embrace the messiness inherent in
teaching and learning. (Paul Hart/Flickr)
Teaching is an art.
I
became a teacher because I was inspired by my own great teachers. They
helped me experience learning as a process of discovery and
transformation. They also showed me that the art of teaching derives
from teachers’ ability to work through messiness and see beauty in what
many others perceive as imperfection. As a ninth grade humanities
teacher, it has been an amazing privilege to devote my life to this art.
Recently, I was named
National Teacher of the Year, and it is such an honor. I kicked off my
year by visiting Washington, D.C., last week, to meet with policymakers
and education advocates. Now, I am preparing to spend a year out of my
classroom traveling around the country to speak with others about
education.
After the reporter left, I began to doubt myself, feeling embarrassed that things had not gone more smoothly during her visit.
With
this honor comes the opportunity and responsibility to share a message
that I often teach my students: There is no such thing as the perfect
student, classroom or teacher. Instead, we must embrace the messiness
inherent in teaching and learning.
One
particular instance allowed me to reflect on this lesson. A reporter
visited my classroom in the fall, and afterwards told me that she was
surprised I let her see that class. That day, students had
participated in a collaborative game to review for an upcoming
end-of-trimester test on the Haitian Revolution. A few students had
difficulty interacting with their peers appropriately. Some called out
or made disparaging remarks about the other team.
After
the reporter left, I began to doubt myself, feeling embarrassed that
things had not gone more smoothly during her visit. I wondered: Should I
have invited her to a different class, one that might have posed fewer
challenges?
As
teachers, we sometimes fall victim to the myth of the perfect
classroom, the perfect students, the perfect lesson. We feel the need to
perpetuate this myth, to pretend that we have it all figured out. We
feel vulnerable without it, worried that we will be identified as frauds
or impostors.
Reflecting
on the reporter’s visit, I can understand why the messiness of that
class could feel uncomfortable, especially to someone who does not know
my students. So much of our work in the classroom depends on
relationships. And, because I know my students well, I was able to
recognize elements of beauty where the reporter saw chaos.
One
of the aforementioned students, who is usually absent or completely
off-task, stayed in class for the entire period and was actively engaged
in the review activity. He had trouble controlling his outbursts, but
he cared about what was happening in class and wanted to do well. He was
learning. While I didn’t dismiss his behavior, I was careful to note
his progress. To me and the other teachers in my room, that classroom is a place where learning happens, in spite of — and sometimes because of — the messiness.
If
we do not recognize that learning is happening even as children make
mistakes and act out, we don’t recognize the growth of the whole child.
Providing a holistic education means fostering a child’s development
through examining mistakes, not forbidding them. In order to create a
culture where the value of failure is celebrated, educators must be able
to openly share our own failures.
Imagine
the progress we can make on the journey to educational equity if
teachers feel safe opening the doors of all of our classrooms -- even
the messy ones -- to visitors.
The
reporter’s visit helped me learn a valuable lesson about sharing what
is happening inside of my classroom with others. Rather than shying away
from inviting visitors in, I now take time to give them context about
the class so they can get a more complete picture of who we are and what
we’re working on.
Imagine the progress we can make on the journey to educational equity if teachers feel safe opening the doors of all
of our classrooms — even the messy ones — to visitors. We must reject
the “super teacher” myth and be brave enough to advocate for what we
know to be true about learning: Real learning takes time. It is not
always linear. And sometimes, the best learning happens when things
don’t go perfectly.
Sydney ChaffeeCognoscenti contributor Sydney
Chaffee is a high school humanities teacher at Codman Academy Charter
Public School in Boston and the 2017 National Teacher of the Year.She is a member of the Boston chapter of Educators
for Excellence.
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is to be
implemented at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year. As we get
ready to wrap up the 2016-2017 school year, I am proposing an
“alternative act” called the Every Educator Succeeds Act (EESA). Below are some of my thoughts about how the act should play out.
I suggest that each professional begins implementation of the EESA by placing the following titles at the top of two separate pages:
Accomplishments for the 2016-2017 School Year
Disappointments for the 2016-2017 School Year
Use the first document to jot down actions and results that occurred
during the school year of which you are proud. These can be small or
large, mini-steps or giant steps, work with students, communication with
parents, collaboration with peers… any and all positive achievements.
Review the document slowly and take pride in the work you have done.
Next, take the second piece of paper, tear it into shreds and throw it
in the recycling bin. It has been a tough year for many of us and we do
not have time to dwell on disappointments. Put the stressful situations
out of your mind. Take the high road. You work too hard to focus on the
negative.
Instead of spending another moment on the negative, use your time to
tell a co-worker how much you appreciate their support and camaraderie.
Maybe present them with flowers or a small token representing how you
feel. We are surrounded by strong support systems, but sometimes as we
are cleaning out our desks and preparing our rooms for summer cleaning,
we forget to tell others how strongly we feel about them.
Then, send several parents an email, text message, or, better yet, a
hand-written note to tell them how much you have learned from working
with their children. Yes, our primary responsibility is to make sure
that all children learn, but we learn a great deal from our students as
well. And, we must not neglect to let our students know how much they
have meant to us.
And as the year comes to a close, do not forget to tell your family and
loved ones how deeply you care about them. Being an educator is a tough,
tough job and sometimes we become consumed by our responsibilities.
Let’s be sure to tell those special people in our lives that although it
may seem we are completely focused on our jobs, deep in our hearts we
are clear that they are the most important people in our lives.
After you have completed all these joyful tasks, take a seat in a comfy
chair, put your feet up, close your eyes, smile, and remember that you
are someone’s hero.
