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What Makes a Good Teacher!

© R. L. Head

I must digress. While I have approached this column from the perspective of a parent, I realize that I am also a teacher. I had two experiences which really made an impression on me.

Because I am handicapped, I am seeking work as a web site designer. I felt that it was a field that would enable me to do some of my work at home. This works better for me because of my health. I went to a job fair hosted by the local college I am attending. I was beginning an interview with one of the companies when the young man seated at the table, who did look familiar to me, asked if I recognized him. I couldn’t place the face. He explained that I had been his teacher in 8th grade. He recalled that I used to sing the Star Spangled Banner rather well. He seemed to be recalling fond memories of me, at least. While I, of course, do hope it will help me get a job with the company, I have to confess that the whole encounter left me smiling. It made me so happy to think that anything I had done might have made his life better. To me, that is what teaching is all about.

The second half of my story is not as pleasant. My son has been intent on failing the eighth grade. His father and I are at our wits end trying to figure out what is driving him. Finally, knowing he knew why even if he didn’t acknowledge it, even to himself, I took him for a drive. I stopped and parked and told him that before we went back home again, he would have to tell me because knowing was the only way we could help him. I started off the conversation by telling him that the only thing I could figure was that it had something to do with my having Multiple Sclerosis. Maybe he was angry at me. He started to cry. His dear heart was broken. Yes, he is angry at me and the MS and… himself. He can’t make it go away. He is afraid for me, and he doesn’t want to have to think about things like that at fourteen. I guess that he is failing because he is so angry at himself for being helpless and is just lashing out in an arbitrary way.

He is doing well in one of his classes. Apparently, this teacher reaches him in a way that makes him feel positive about doing his work. He is doing poorly in math, but his math teacher bends over backwards to help him along. I feel his poor performance has a little to do with mental laziness. However, she is helping him in any way she can.

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