When it comes to teaching writing today, where is the love?

The school year is just about to begin for my students. Like seems to be the case far too often, there are new requirements for what to teach and how this year. The new requirements call for more reading and a whole lot more writing in all subjects. As a writer you would think that I am happy with this. Well, as a social studies teacher, I certainly am. I think that students can benefit greatly from learning how to write informatively. As a writer, I’m not quite as thrilled. The thing that I’m concerned about, as a writer, is that we aren’t quite teaching the love. I’m going to borrow some lines from Joss Whedon here to make my point. You can know all of the grammar and tools for proving a thesis in the 'verse, but if you don’t have love then writing may shake you right off as surely as the worlds turn. I worry that as the students get older, we are requiring less and less creativity from them. Non-fiction writing is a crucial skill in today’s world, and I don’t think that it should be less emphasized. However, fictional, creative writing seems to be falling away. I fear that we may be taking the love from the writing, and if that’s the case, then writing may become a matter of nothing more than work for future students. Writing will shake us right off from a lack of love.

I am not recommending any kind of change in standards or anything like that, nor is this any kind of complaint against current standards. This is a plea to the teachers, parents, and writers out there. Even if it isn’t in the standards or expectations, we need to make certain and instill some of that love for writing into our children. Many students love to read, but I wonder if any of them realize that it is up to them in the future to provide the stories that the next generation will read. If we don’t try to instill some of that love into the students, then the next generation may not have the gripping stories to mesmerize them that previous generations have enjoyed. I teach some creative writing as an enrichment course. Do I think that everyone in there leaves with a love of writing? Absolutely not! But if I can get three or four students a year to gain an appreciation for writing and maybe help foster a talent they have for it, then I feel that I have accomplished what I set out to do.

We certainly need to teach our students how to write and explain things with informative texts. It is a skill that they need to learn. But to my fellow teachers, parents, and writers out there, try to find the opportunity to instill a love for writing whenever you can. That is something that many of the children want to learn. That’s important for their futures, too.

Waiting on inspiration...

Yesterday I visited a new blog being written by a young lady in college. She enjoys writing, but that is not the full-time career she is pursuing. Instead, she is currently majoring to be an elementary school teacher. You can read the post that caught my eye here https://mycollegeodyssey.wordpress.com/2015/01/13/back-on-track/ This blog post reminded me a lot of a question that I and other veteran teachers get asked pretty regularly: would you recommend teaching as a career to a student today? Everyone has their own opinion. Many of us that are cynical will reply that we would never recommend this career to someone today because of the current political climate of "blame the teacher" or whatever difficulties are going on in their local district. Still others, almost with tears in their eyes, will reply that it is the greatest job you could ever have because you get to see the light in children's eyes as they learn. I'm not denigrating or disagreeing with either of these answers. Sometimes it depends on the grade level that you teach. Sometimes it depends on the school you teach in. Sometimes it even depends on what time of day you ask the question.

So, as a teacher, what would I answer. My answer is that it depends on who you are. This career is not for everyone. There are those that believe that anyone can be qualified to be a teacher. There are even those that believe that teaching shouldn't be a career, but instead something else you do after you have a lot of experience in another field. I say that people who subscribe to those beliefs haven't been in charge of a classroom. The truth is that teaching requires a special type of person that has a very specific kind of patience. It isn't necessarily the patience to do your grading or deal with upset parents or politicians making policies that pile more onto your workload, although that patience is necessary as well. You have to be the kind of person that has patience to wait for inspiration.

Inspiration for a teacher usually comes from only one place: our students. Better pay would be wonderful. More respect from policymakers would be glorious. If you get into the field of education for either money or respect than you will not remain long, even if those things were in abundance. You have to be in education for your students or you will not stay. I don't mean that your entire life should center around your students. Heaven knows that teachers usually sacrifice their social lives for their careers. I mean that when the day is over and the lights are off and you are trying to find that blissful sleep, you should be able to bring a smile to your face because of something that a student has said for you. Some teachers are fortunate enough to find these little bits of inspiration every day with their students. A lot of the teachers of higher grade levels find the inspiration a little more rarely but just as powerfully when they receive a note, letter, e-mail, or contact from a former student that wants to thank them for some long forgotten gesture that helped steer that student in a new direction. This must be the fuel that keeps you going each day.

So whether or not I would recommend this career to someone depends on who that someone is. Are they someone who can wait for that inspiration? There are times when you might go for a full year or two before finding that inspiration again. Do you have the patience to stick it out, put everything you can into a school year that might be stressing you to inhuman levels, and still push your students towards success? If that one letter can inspire you for years, if that one smile or flicker of understanding can get you through the day, then welcome to the Teacher's Club. Our dues are steep, but membership definitely has its privileges.

Is this how teachers are seen?

A co-worker and friend of mine posted a link that showed a group of three young ladies on the Queen Latifah Show. They were reciting a performance poem that dealt with a great many subjects from a teenage perspective. I will not pretend that I was not impressed by them. Their performance was well done, their message was well worded, and I know how much their words rang true to so many teens. I would have been proud for them to have been my students. However, one of the last things that they said really bothered me. The line was something along the lines of "The teacher never fails. Only you do." Maybe it bothered me more than it should, but I can't seem to get this line out of my head. It isn't just because a group of intelligent young ladies said it, but because the audience of adults did not dispute it. Is this how teachers are seen? I guess that I should point out that I have been a teacher for about 13 years or so. It is the only profession I have ever desired to pursue ever since I started college. I won't deny that I can often look at education through rose-colored glasses. I also will freely admit that I have worked along with teachers who should not have been in the profession, either through a lack of professional skill or a lack of interpersonal skills. I can say that I have been privileged to work along with some teachers that are dedicated almost to a fault. I have watched them sacrifice so much for the good of their students and never expect, and oftentimes never receive, anything in return. So where is this idea that a teacher is shielded from failure and it is all put on the student from?

I am certain that part of the answer to the question comes from the act that the performance was being given by teenagers. I do not, in any way, mean that as a condescension. The simple truth is that any teenager has not experienced being on the other side of the desk. I had not when I was a teenager, and I know that fact colored some of my opinions and thoughts of different teachers that I had. Experience often changes perspective. The three young ladies show a lot of intelligence, and I would hope that just as I respect their point of view, they would be willing to acknowledge and respect a point of view born of experiences they do not yet have.

While I can respect the point of view of these three young ladies based on their current experiences, I have a lot of trouble with the fact that adults in this country have followed a similar perspective of late. There are often editorials, online comments, calls to talk shows, etc. in which people speak as though teachers do great disservice to their students and don't care because supposedly the teacher can't fail, but the student can. I have read Facebook posts that have claimed that teachers actively try to undermine their students. I have heard far too often that teachers care only about collecting a paycheck and protecting their "lavish" benefits and will throw their students under the bus to do it. All of this is said because it is believed that teachers can't fail. They just fail their students instead. All of those that think that need to see me before I go to sleep every night. They would learn that they are dead wrong.

I have watched other teachers put enormous amounts of extra time and effort into helping students that are struggling. I have done the same. I know of teachers that show up over an hour early every morning and stay an hour late every afternoon to offer assistance to struggling students that want to succeed. They receive no extra pay for this and rarely receive recognition for it, but they do it every day, every year. I have seen teachers facing illness and injury that return to work sooner than is healthy for themselves because they want to be there to assist and guide their students. I have witnessed myself, every night, second-guessing whether I have done enough for the students in my charge. Yes, a student can fail. Their failure can show up on a report card or by not being promoted. A teacher can fail, too. Sometimes its by loosing their job. More often, it is by the worry they feel for their students and the gnawing sensation that even though you did more than was asked and as much as you humanly could, maybe you could have found a way to do more.

Is this how teachers are seen? Do we take the few teachers that don't show the skills or concern and paint the entire profession with the same brush? I hope not. If we can look at three teenage girls and see that they have a message that we can all learn from, surely we can look at our children's teachers and see people who aren't perfect, but that are determined