Teach The Kids to Read All The Signs
By our continual and earnest
pursuit of character ... we bring our own deportment and conduct frequently in
review. ... This constant habit of surveying ourselves, as it were, in
reflection, keeps alive all the sentiments of right and wrong, and begets, in
noble creatures a certain reverence for themselves as well as others, which is
the surest guardian of every
virtue.
--David Hume
El Dorado Springs superintendent Greg Koetting recently reported in his superintendent's column about comments by Missouri Commissioner of Education, Dr. Robert Bartman.
Dr. Bartman focused on Teacher Quality & Quantity. Koetting said in his response to Bartman's speech, " . . . The topic that concerns El Dorado Springs the most is the issue of Teacher Quality and Quantity. We had a difficult time last spring attracting applicants for many of our vacancies . . . I worry that a strong economy has made too many potential teachers choose private industry because of the potential for much higher paying jobs, often without some of the educational requirements of public schools.'
The thought of Dr. Bartman and Mr. Koetting took me back about twenty-five years. I was seated across from John Silvia, then the superintendent of schools in Osceola. Mr. Silvia was a demanding personality and because of this he was short on popularity. I deeply respected him and valued his thoughts on many subjects.
I recall that conversation because it was about teacher quality. I was in his office to ask if I could use him as a reference on my resume. We were considering leaving the area at the time. He told me that many people gave his name and that if he couldn't give a positive recommendation, he simple put the request from other superintendents in his trash can. I was waiting to see which category I fell in: The recommendation file, or the trash can.
That answer didn't come immediately, we took a short detour. He got to talking about Mrs. Sylvia Jones. Mrs. Jones was deceased but she had been the second grade teacher for many years in our district prior to her death.
Diana and I had looked forward to her being our son's teacher. He was fortunate to have her influence for about three months. During the summer prior to his second grade class she learned that she had cancer. She was a determined lady and a wonderful model for her students. She came to school every day, even when she was in immense pain. Finally, the cancer became too strong an opponent and she had to yield to its life.
I remember distinctly what Mr. Silvia said in regard to her. "She was a teacher of the whole child." He loved her as did we all.
She taught the whole child. She taught beyond the text. She taught how to be a whole person. She was a teacher of quality. A teacher whom each of her peers could aspire to be.
I thought of her at another time also. I had a group of high school students at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. A handful of my charges were with me when we discovered a painting by an American contemporary artist William Wiley.
Wiley's painting was of the "text art" genre. There were dozens of messages scrawled all over the canvas. One of those messages leaped off the canvas and grabbed my mind and emotions. I'm still in its grip.
Wiley wrote. "Teachers, teach your kids to read all the signs." What a powerful command. How can a teacher do that?
I think the answer to that is complex. However, I know that Mrs. Jones was the kind of teacher who could do that. She loved her profession, she loved her students. She nourished them, she nurtured them. She believed them to be hungry for knowledge and she fed them. She found some to be suffering and she comforted them. She found those who felt neglected and she placed her arms about them and drew them into the center of attention. She taught the whole child.
That is what Mr. Silvia respected about her. That is what Mr. Koetting is correct in being worried about. It is a shame that some of those people of quality will never step into the classroom, will never tough a child's life in such wonderful ways as did Mrs. Jones. Diana and I are thankful that our son had the opportunity to have her as his teacher, even if only it was for a few months. She taught him to read all the signs.
(written 12-16-99)
--David Hume
El Dorado Springs superintendent Greg Koetting recently reported in his superintendent's column about comments by Missouri Commissioner of Education, Dr. Robert Bartman.
Dr. Bartman focused on Teacher Quality & Quantity. Koetting said in his response to Bartman's speech, " . . . The topic that concerns El Dorado Springs the most is the issue of Teacher Quality and Quantity. We had a difficult time last spring attracting applicants for many of our vacancies . . . I worry that a strong economy has made too many potential teachers choose private industry because of the potential for much higher paying jobs, often without some of the educational requirements of public schools.'
The thought of Dr. Bartman and Mr. Koetting took me back about twenty-five years. I was seated across from John Silvia, then the superintendent of schools in Osceola. Mr. Silvia was a demanding personality and because of this he was short on popularity. I deeply respected him and valued his thoughts on many subjects.
I recall that conversation because it was about teacher quality. I was in his office to ask if I could use him as a reference on my resume. We were considering leaving the area at the time. He told me that many people gave his name and that if he couldn't give a positive recommendation, he simple put the request from other superintendents in his trash can. I was waiting to see which category I fell in: The recommendation file, or the trash can.
That answer didn't come immediately, we took a short detour. He got to talking about Mrs. Sylvia Jones. Mrs. Jones was deceased but she had been the second grade teacher for many years in our district prior to her death.
Diana and I had looked forward to her being our son's teacher. He was fortunate to have her influence for about three months. During the summer prior to his second grade class she learned that she had cancer. She was a determined lady and a wonderful model for her students. She came to school every day, even when she was in immense pain. Finally, the cancer became too strong an opponent and she had to yield to its life.
I remember distinctly what Mr. Silvia said in regard to her. "She was a teacher of the whole child." He loved her as did we all.
She taught the whole child. She taught beyond the text. She taught how to be a whole person. She was a teacher of quality. A teacher whom each of her peers could aspire to be.
I thought of her at another time also. I had a group of high school students at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. A handful of my charges were with me when we discovered a painting by an American contemporary artist William Wiley.
Wiley's painting was of the "text art" genre. There were dozens of messages scrawled all over the canvas. One of those messages leaped off the canvas and grabbed my mind and emotions. I'm still in its grip.
Wiley wrote. "Teachers, teach your kids to read all the signs." What a powerful command. How can a teacher do that?
I think the answer to that is complex. However, I know that Mrs. Jones was the kind of teacher who could do that. She loved her profession, she loved her students. She nourished them, she nurtured them. She believed them to be hungry for knowledge and she fed them. She found some to be suffering and she comforted them. She found those who felt neglected and she placed her arms about them and drew them into the center of attention. She taught the whole child.
That is what Mr. Silvia respected about her. That is what Mr. Koetting is correct in being worried about. It is a shame that some of those people of quality will never step into the classroom, will never tough a child's life in such wonderful ways as did Mrs. Jones. Diana and I are thankful that our son had the opportunity to have her as his teacher, even if only it was for a few months. She taught him to read all the signs.
(written 12-16-99)
Posted: Sun - January 8, 2006 at 08:39 AM
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Reflection
"Chance favors only the prepared mind." - Louis Pasteur
"Art arises from basic needs-a strong need to express and celebrate our everyday events.
In a museum most people spend less than twenty seconds looking at a work of art."
"Art arises from basic needs-a strong need to express and celebrate our everyday events.
In a museum most people spend less than twenty seconds looking at a work of art."
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Published On: Jan 08, 2006 08:47 AM
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Published On: Jan 08, 2006 08:47 AM