Hi. My Name is Sam, and I...

This week we were challenged by a great speaker (Joe Coles) to write down our "why".  Why do we teach? Why do we do what we do?  What keeps us coming back for more when things get tough.  For me, this is two-fold.  I could easily list names.  I could list names of students who graduated and went on to do amazing things with their lives when the odds were stacked against them.  I could list names of students who touched my heart with kindness, took time to say thank you, or even let me know that the appreciated the effort I put into teaching them.  Students, after all, are the reason that any teacher teaches.

I have always wanted to teach.  Teaching runs in my family.  My grandpa was a teacher and administrator, as was my dad.  My grandmother and aunt were teachers and librarians.  My stepmom is a middle school teacher, and we all know that there is a special place in heaven for middle school teachers.  Teaching is what I know.  School was another home to me.  But you see, I have a confession to make.  My name is Sam, and in 8th grade I could not tell a subject from a verb.  Shocking, I know.  I could write a sentence, and it made sense, but I could not tell you what essential elements or parts of speech were used to do so.  Everyone else in my class could.  E.v.e.r.y.o.n.e.

So, "why" do I teach?  Because I felt dumb.  I felt dumb, but I was fortunate enough to have a crazy teacher named Ms. Jewell who loved what she did and loved us.  She used fluorescent chalk to diagram sentences, and we all giggled when she turned to write on the board because she usually had two handprints on her butt from the chalk dust.  She was loud.  She gave major and minor quizzes that could make a grown man cry.  She also knew I had no clue what I was doing.  She knew that I would require a little extra time and extra patience.  She also knew that I could do it.  I spent hours after school in her room and in Mrs. McAtee's room drilling and killing subjects and verbs.  And you know what?  I did it.  If I couldn't understand it one way, Ms. Jewell found another.  By the end of the year, I could write a compound-complex sentence, and diagram it.  By the end of the year, I was caught up with the rest of my class.  She believed in me, and I realized that I wasn't dumb.  (I might also add that she gave me my first-ever detention for...not doing my English homework...gasp!)

So "why" do I teach?  Because I felt success.  I felt success as a sophomore in Mr. Manes's class.  I remember my parents coming home from parent-teacher conferences, you know back when parents went to conferences, and I remember my dad telling me that Mr. Manes said I had a knack for writing -- that it seemed to come natural.  Me?  The same person who couldn't tell a subject from a verb?  Mr. Manes's class was fun.  He was not your typical "English" teacher.  He was a former football coach who loved Shakespeare and Medieval literature.  He cracked us up with his corny jokes, praised us for a job well done, and called us out when we were acting stupid or lazy.  (And I quote, "Well, you are either stupid or lazy, and you can't fix stupid, so which is it?)  He unlocked the English language for me by teaching etymology, word parts and origins, and I began to see patterns within our own language that I never knew existed.   Mr. Manes is the reason that I learned how to write essays.  He made me write, rewrite, revise, and rewrite again.  He pushed me to better.  Heck, because of him I still remember that you should never start a sentence with a number -- missed that twice on my research paper, and it still stings a bit.  He expected my best work, nothing less.

So why do I teach?  Because these two teachers busted their tails for me, and I owe it to them to pay it forward.  It's that simple.  I teach so that maybe, just maybe, a few of my students feel a little less dumb and a little bit of success.  I could not tell a subject from a verb, and now I teach it.  Because of them.

(I might also add that I still have my 8th grade English notes in all their glory with the dividers and whole protectors - don't judge me.  They are my Holy Grail of Grammar.)
__________

Also, if you feel like reading more, I have some pretty neat colleagues who blog:  Andrew Bauer and Jason Kohls.  Yeah, they're pretty neat.