Columbus student saw ‘making it’ as joining NBA. His teacher held back a harsh reality.
I remember walking around the room, reading their sentences over their shoulders as they wrote. The prompt was simple: define success.
They were a collection of sophomores who were definitely not interested in writing, or even school for the most part. For some reason, however, the subject of success appealed to them, and they were being compliant. Success was often a topic of candid conversation in Room 212, but sometimes my students’ ideas of success was, well, a tad off-kilter with what many of us would consider measures of success.
I just had to address one guy in particular after reading a bit of his essay. In the middle of margins cluttered with dollar signs and basketballs, Alberto was writing his manifesto with fervent pride. “Alberto,” I said, “I see here you think being successful in your life means making it to the to the NBA? That’s cool.” He nodded with a delightful smile.
Stop right here. This is the time when the internal conflict of a teacher ramps up — when countless decision-making battles are waged in our minds every moment of every day in the classroom — when two types of teachers are decided: the calm, caring, speakers of life or the blunt, callous, crashers of dreams.
Most of us should have a list of at least 13 school teachers, kindergarten through 12th grade. Some we remember as being positive forces in our quests to become who we are. But unfortunately, we may have had a few along the way who tied our dreams to “That’s-impossible!” or chained our hopes to “That’s never gonna happen!”
Believe me, never a day goes by in the classroom when a teacher does not have an opportunity to make a decision that may last a lifetime — to introduce the boundless, limitless possibilities of success to students, or not.
Jamie Spanner doesn’t believe in the word “can’t” in her classroom. She makes pointed, conscience decisions every day to be a life-speaker to her students at Key Elementary. Her favorite way to help her students define success for themselves is through frequent personal conferences. She pulls up a chair, sits face to face, and talks to each of her students individually. She holds nothing back, and they learn to do the same. She discusses their goals and what steps they’re taking to meet them. She chats about current events, giving each child a valid voice. They talk about what’s going right and what’s going wrong in their learning. And most importantly, they talk about cultivating ownership of their own success, whatever the student defines that success to be.
That’s what a life-speaker looks like in the classroom, and that’s the kind of teacher I want to be.
I’m almost there, but certainly not quite. My gut still wants to speak harsh realities to my kids, but thank goodness my momma taught me to think before I speak.
“What are you doing to get to the NBA, Alberto? Are you on the Jordan basketball team?” “Well, no,” he painfully responded. (Quick decision. Choose to be a life-speaker.) “Oh, OK,” I said, “well, now you know where you can start!”
For teachers like Mrs. Spanner, the art of ultimate optimism comes naturally, I’m sure. I, for one, must work at it. As many successful men and women think back on their 13 teachers, they’ll smile when they think of their math teacher at Key Elementary. I know I do.
This story was originally published April 25, 2017 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Columbus student saw ‘making it’ as joining NBA. His teacher held back a harsh reality.."