The One Thing Every Teacher Should Know
A Student Revealed the Secret of Education
The other night, I was out with my wife eating in a restaurant. An elderly lady at the table next to us got up and came over to our table.
“Do you remember me?”
I looked at her closely. Yes, something in the face looked familiar but I couldn’t quite place it.
“Yeah,” I said hesitantly “Give me a hint”
“I’m Chelsea’s mother,” she said looking into my eyes for recognition.
Miraculously, it did suddenly come back to me.
“Of course,” I said, “You’re Chelsea’s mother. It’s been a long time”
The Valedictorian
I am a high school math teacher. In the last 20 years, I have had hundreds if not thousands of students go through my classroom. Recognizing parents is even tougher. I may see them only a couple of times a year while their students are in my class.
But some students stand out. Chelsea was one of those students.
She was the valedictorian the first year I taught, over 20 years ago.
I was young and new at my job. I made tons of mistakes and felt like I had failed my students in so many ways. But I made it through the year and was actually starting to feel like a real teacher as I sat through my first graduation ceremony as a teacher.
The Speech
Chelsea, the valedictorian of her class, approached the lectern on stage and began her speech.
She was an excellent student and a very bright young woman. Her speech was polished and had a little bit of all the elements that I have learned to expect in a valedictorian speech. She included a mixture of humor, advice for the future, and accolades for her fellow students for their accomplishments.
As many valedictorians do, she gave a play-by-play of each year of her high school experience, mentioning several teachers and administrators along the way.
When she said, “And, finally, we became seniors”, she surprised me when in the next line she found me in the row in which I sat with the rest of the teachers, made eye contact with me, and said, “Mr. Melzer, you need to know, your class is a wonderful place to be.”
I smiled and nodded and clapped with everyone when she finished her speech.
My Career Transformed
What she had said to me, shaped and changed who I was as a teacher from that moment on.
As I college student, I always thought that I was going to change the world through math education. I was good at math and always had a knack for being able to explain math concepts.
When Chelsea mentioned me in her speech, I kind of thought the next line would be something like, “You explained math to me better than anyone had ever been able to.”
But instead, she simply said that my class was a wonderful place to be.
This one line changed my entire teaching career.
I thought a lot about what she said. Chelsea was smart and insightful, and her words meant a lot to me. She did well in my class and certainly learned a lot of math from me.
But what she told me was that she enjoyed being in my class.
A Wonderful Place to Be
Since that moment, the first and main goal of my classroom is to make it a safe and comfortable place for each and every student. My primary objective is that every student, the valedictorians, the “C” students, the students that barely scrape by, and even the students that don’t make it to graduation, feel like my class is a wonderful place to be.
If you can achieve that, the rest is easy. If you can make them want to be there, the teaching part is easy. Teaching is about relationships and the environment you create.
Yes, you need to know your subject and be able to explain it well. Yes, you need to work hard and be organized and well-planned.
But, first and foremost, you need to be kind, compassionate and empathetic. If you want respect, you have to start by giving respect.
The other night in that restaurant, I was able to tell Chelsea’s mother how much she had changed my life. In that one, simple sentence, Chelsea gave me a clear directive.
Make your classroom a wonderful place to be and you will be successful as a teacher. Since that day, that is exactly what I have strived to do.
