Chapter 16
I was inspired today by a meme. Not by a person, a teacher, or living creature, but a meme. The meme talked about the classroom and students’ expectations in the classroom versus the expectations in the real world.
I am very passionate about this topic. I believe that there are so many differences of what is needed versus what is expected in education. If you are a generation that has never heard the term “Teacher’s Pet”, it is a student that relentlessly pushes to please the teacher at all costs and to prove their ability and worth to the teacher.
Has education made us all “Teacher’s Pets”?
I am no “spring chicken” and I have found myself making my way into education at the ripe young age of 42. I have a lifetime full of “real life” experiences beyond the classroom which is pretty different than most who start their teaching careers right after college at a younger age of 22, 23, 24 years old respectively. While I am not age shaming here, our sole premise is to prepare our students with tools to succeed beyond the classroom. I believe that some of things we are doing are irrelevant and just causing our students to lose more interest in school. Within this, we are not helping the students find interests in school, but we are perpetuating the divide and losing them even further.
The meme which originated from “@Health” on Instagram very directly shows a teacher stating that a “minimum five page paper” needs to be written in class which is compared to the billionaire saying that unless you give me what I need to know in “7 seconds”, then “I’m Out!”. As funny as this is (I know all the millennials are laughing), this is the truth. We have to be relative to the need of the people we are trying to help. If you are a teacher, and you are making your students write papers with this mentality of “needs to be a minimum length of (x) amount of pages”, and the use of the word minimum is not so “minimum”, then you are doing it all wrong. You are losing more than just your students. You are losing their desire to be your “Teacher’s Pet.” Nobody wants to write just for the sake of it. Students want to be included into the reasoning behind why the paper should be a certain length, and then what value their writing brings to their lives beyond the academic nature of the assignment itself. Not only are you losing your students’ desire, but you are losing a crucial opportunity to help influence the pathway to their future because they are tuning you out. They are closing that road, and looking for other ways to be lead and feel empowered. It’s quite a humbling thought if you are a teacher.
Our culture has shifted from following the “Do what I say, because I said so” rhetoric. We need explanation. We need inclusion. We need to know “Why?” and what value it brings. The students need to be empowered and validated. Some of you teachers right now may be sitting back “flabbergasted” at my theory, but if everyone just takes a deep breath for a moment and opens themselves up for the challenge and consideration, then you may be able to open the door to building new connections with this generation’s students.
Clearly stating my position, I am a firm believer that every student should be a “Teacher’s Pet.” Every student should try their best, work their hardest, give every ounce of their energy and intellect to succeeding in the classroom. This should be the “minimum” standard. But with my position also comes the opinion: Teachers need to be full invested and give their best, work their hardest, and give every ounce of their energy and intellect to their student’s success in the classroom. Teachers need to give the same “minimum” standard they are expecting from their students. Many teacher’s are stuck in the old way of setting parameters that may just be too old and irrelevant – and this statement is coming from the “Old Guy” here. Teachers need to understand their students and relate to them, and connect with them in ways that will allow the student to foster growth not just for their academics, but for their lives. Isn’t that the main core concept of being a teacher?
As a teacher myself, I have a huge favor to ask every other teacher for the future. Take a look at what you are doing for your students. Take inventory and find the things that you are doing right. Stock up. Then take a look at what you are doing wrong and throw it out! If it is not working or you aren’t seeing results, then you need to move on and get to something that will invite the students back to learning. I challenge you to look at everything: Are you boring? Are you too hard? Are you educated enough? Are you relative? Is it the way you talk and/or your mannerisms?
Take a look at all these because you can alter all these things as a teacher if needed. You can’t control what the kids think and who they are, but you can control you. If you are boring, then figure out ways to be more lively and upbeat. There are books, videos, and even professional training that helps teachers become more engaging. If you are too hard, why is that? Are you trying to crush students drive to a point where they are disheartened to learning or are you creating and developing strategy plans where you walk beside your student as a mentor and guide to help them? You can’t expect a student to climb Mount Everest in a day. A thousand mile journey is started with a single step. We have to lead this journey with destinations (steps), and understand that we must be by their sides along the way. If you are struggling to connect with a student, is it because of your knowledge or social abilities? Some students are extremely talented with a wealth of knowledge about things teachers have no clue to. I recommend that you search ways to relate, and do it quickly, or your “relevancy value” will diminish rapidly with a student, quicker than Game Stop’s Stock surging on the Stock Market. If you are struggling to get your students’ attention, does your body language speak to them that you want to really help them? Your mannerisms speak volumes through passive communication, and your students are very intelligent in this field. They are already the experts and they hinge on every one of your movements. You need to be hyper aware of how you hold yourself because you are sending a message to your students.
Why do we need to focus on these things? Some of you are probably saying, “It was only a meme for goodness sake!” …and I respond, “You are right! Yes – it was only a meme!” A meme is something that pokes fun at a culturally or socially relevant topic, and it was poking at education. This subject is currently socially and culturally relevant, which is why much attention is being brought to it.
As educators, what is our main purpose? Is it just to give papers and focus on whatever subject we teach? Some may still say so, but I have to have hope that we understand we need to step up our game as teachers. Our roles are much bigger than just giving work. We have a duty to our students. We have to serve our students in the same way they serve us in trying to be our “Teacher’s Pet”. Let’s not do it to just help them be great students in our classrooms, let’s help them do it to become great students in life.
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Written By Chris Hulme ( aka – Coach Hulme ) #CoachHulme #ChrisHulme
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By the way, here is the original meme of anyone was curious…
Coach Hulme 