To pay attention to current events. My fifth grade teacher sent us off to learn about specific terms and events that were in the national and international news each week; there was discussion and there were weekly quizzes. I knew about OPEC and their role in the world energy markets at age 10! I imagine nearly every family subscribed to a newspaper at that time, or at least a weekly news magazine. More to the point, Ms. Gentner cultivated our curiosity and independence as learners and thinkers.
H.B. (History teacher at the school where I taught)
My response:
My fifth grade teacher did something similar. That year was during a presidential election. But even more, Mr. Moran taught me that everyone mattered. Everyone has something to contribute and we as a group are greater than the sum of our parts. He taught me to not just hear, but to listen to people.
More on Mr. Moran-
It was 1976 and President Gerald Ford was running against Gov. Jimmy Carter. With Watergate still fresh in all our parents’ minds, most of the class supported Carter. I thought of myself as a contrarian (pretty heady for a ten year-old) and so I took Ford’s side. He seemed like a nice guy, but in reality I didn’t really know much except that I just wanted to be different.
Mr. Moran had us research and debate each candidate’s stance on different issues. He treated everyone with respect as each of us tried talking like an expert on things we knew very little about. The foreign policy views expressed by a room full of adolescents were pretty passionate. And don’t get me started on OPEC and the oil embargo! Friendships were lost that day. Mr. Moran patiently explained things to us, never being demeaning to us about our misunderstandings or misconceptions. He taught us about the electoral process and a world much bigger than a fifth grade classroom, all while making us feel comfortable to express our ideas and opinions.
Mr. Moran was a teacher who truly knew his students. He had an innate sense of how far he could push us and when to let us be. You felt safe in his classroom. While a fifth-grader doesn’t think about being respected, that is exactly what he was doing- showing each student the respect that each deserves. He treated each of us as individuals who could all add to our collective and individual experiences and understandings. Mr. Moran was an incredible teacher and role model for us. That respect for everyone was evident in all that Mr. Moran did and said from day one.
I find it infuriating when I hear people say, “You need to earn my respect.” That is the exact opposite of how things should be. Respect should be given freely and unequivocally from the moment you meet someone. Actually, it should exist even before you’ve met them. Now, there might be some people that can lose your respect with some of their actions, but each person you meet should start with your simple respect. Everyone is shaped by a series of experiences that may or may not be similar to your own and that you are not privy to. And just because an experience is different does not mean it has to be wrong.
My first year teaching was in the same school system I attended. All the new teachers were introduced to the entire faculty in the opening meetings in August. When people broke for coffee, Mr. Moran came up to me to say Hello. He asked how I was doing. And then he asked how Mark F., and Matt P., and Christine D., and every other member of our fifth grade class was. This was fourteen years after teaching us! Then he recalled he’d taught my brother John the year before me. And he went through the same thing- How is John? How is Kevin P? How is Susan G, …
THAT is the type of teacher I have tried to be for the last thirty-six years. It frustrates me when I can’t remember a former student’s name, regardless of how long ago I taught them. After teaching over 2200 students, it’s bound to happen. But it still bothers me. I want to be like Mr. Moran.
Leave a Reply