May 7, 2024, is National Teachers Day, so I thought I would reminisce with you and share one of my teaching experiences and a few feed-backs from former students. Teaching well is extremely hard work and time consuming, a lot of fun or depressingly frustrating, and not financially rewarding. Therefore, I want to shout encouragement to those still in the profession.
One of my fondest memories was a single day in three consecutive years when I taught two honors American history classes at Central High School in Helena-West Helena, Arkansas (1971-74). Each year on the day I devoted an entire class period to the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, there was a big track and field event held at our school in the afternoon. Consequently, most teachers didn’t want to get their morning and afternoon classes out of sync, so the morning classes were essentially “days off.”
Not true for me: I didn’t want to waste a day. One of my honors classes was in the morning, but the other one was in the afternoon. I told my afternoon students that they were welcome to come to my morning class if their morning teachers would let them. If they weren’t able to come, I assured them that if they couldn’t borrow someone’s notes, I would help get notes to them before the week’s test. No one ever asked me to intervene because of the generosity of the other students. It was standing room only, with students lined against the back wall and in front of the windows on one side. I loved it. No one ever complained.
On June 19, 2023, I received a comment on my “High Noon” website from Kiel Bazzle Ellis. She was the niece of Germaine Bazzle, one of the premiere jazz singers of New Orleans and the music teacher at Xavier Prep where I taught for eight years. She wrote, “What made me look you up is that I’m reflecting on something for a course I’m taking. In the current exercise, we are to reflect on something we found challenging related to learning, belonging, self-esteem, motivation, and how we overcame it.” Here are some more excerpts:
“You were my (American) history teacher at Xavier Prep in your first year there, 1980-81. I am now an associate professor of Mathematics at Delgado Community College (in New Orleans). I was mostly never challenged in K-12 – even at Prep – until I took your class. Yes, it was hard. Yes, many complained. No, you did not waver. I don’t remember if I complained out loud or if I sulked and pouted my way through. But I didn’t realize then that you were preparing us for the rigor of college. I remember us discussing not just history, but art, architecture, music, and other disciplines related to the historical period we were studying.
“What I really took from your class was that, although my overall grades were excellent, I really needed to beef up my note-taking skills. I wanted you to know that your teaching helped me to become more aware of how I think about learning and how to improve my learning. I received a B in that class. It was the hardest B I ever earned, but it made me a better learner.”
On November 21, 2022, I received a surprise email message from Danny Chang. Danny was born in the USA, but his Ecuadorian parents soon moved back to Ecuador, so he has dual citizenship. He currently resides in the Netherlands. Here are some excerpts from that message:
“I was your student at the Colegio Americano de Guayaquil between 1991 and 1994. I remember your history lessons very well. I found your “High Noon” blog by accident, and I really enjoyed reading about your traveling experiences and your perspectives about living in Ecuador. I can see that you’ve had a very interesting journey to retirement.
“Since we are close to Thanksgiving, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all the lessons and most of all for all the patience you showed to my adolescent self. Now that I am older I can better understand some of the ideas that you were pointing out in your classes: ideas beyond the dates and places of historical events.”
I heard back from Danny on December 1, 2023. He recalled my lesson on the opposing forms of government advocated by Plato and Aristotle. (Plato advocated an authoritarian government and influenced Nazi Germany, the USSR, and modern Russia and China. Aristotle advocated a democratic-republic that coincidentally resembled the ancient Roman Republic and influenced Great Britain and the USA.). He was concerned about the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House. Here are some excerpts:
“It was in your history class, when we were talking about Greek city-states, that I first heard about Plato’s antipathy for democracy. I was surprised to hear democracy being criticized so openly because at that time we talked about it (democracy) in very positive terms. Many years later, I had the good fortune to revisit Plato’s argument against democracy. It made me realize that democracies are very fragile, even when they work. And, for some reason, citizens believe that democracies can be abused without a consequence.
“As one grows older and learns how much foolishness exists in human affairs, how does a person keep his pessimism in check? How does one manage to see all these negative trends and guard the hope that a sensible balance can be restored?”
I salute today’s teachers. I realize today that if you teach in a red state, like my state of Arkansas, you may not be allowed to teach history or literature in a meaningful and constructive manner. But regardless of your teaching field, remember that it’s students you are teaching. Please do the best you can for them. You matter.