What's with this weather? Today I was out bundled up in my Carolina
grubbies,
stupidly walking in this low 30 degree air with a hacking cough and slightly
stuffy nose
that just won't go away; last week it was shorts and a tee shirt. Until the
last few
days, when the chill put Spring on ice, March thought it was April. I know my
flowers had
been fooled by this mistaken identity into thinking Spring had been sprung
early upon
them: roses budding, weeds flourishing, amaryllis flowering, day lilies priming
themselves, dogwoods blooming, tiger lily stems appearing, and stokesia
bushing. I
wouldn't have put it passed by caladiums and hosta to have sneaked an early
peek above
ground. This coldness and warmth got me thinking of a message I had received
over the
weekend and an experience I thankfully had in the elevator of our local
hospital.
The message was from an aspiring college professor who wanted to be
more of a
teacher than a researcher and who admitted that she had had little or no real
preparation
for the classroom. The crux of her message was a request, "Please teach me how
to teach
students and what I should be shooting for."
I partially answered, "For starters, as a Zen story goes, you first
have to teach
yourself. So, I'll ask you to ask yourself three questions. First, what do
you want
students to deeply learn? That is, what's the purpose and meaning of what you
want to do?
Second, who are you? Third, who are the students? While you're pondering the
answers,
let me give you a hint of where I am coming from so you can decide whether to
continue our
conversation."
"You have to first learn that whatever methods or techniques you adopt,
the first
and foremost thing is to remember--and never forget--is that you're in the
people
business. You're a person; each of them is a person. That's the core of my
'Why,' of the
meaning and purpose of what I do. What I mean by that is that you have to
remember who is
teaching and to whom you are teaching is far more important than what you are
transmitting
or how you're transmitting. In fact, your 'why' and 'whom' will tailor your
'how.' In
other words, you have to get beyond thinking about only the subject, methods,
and the
faceless, impersonal, herding stereotype of "student," and find ways to get to
know the
student for the individual human being she or he is; you've got to know what is
on her or
his mind and in her or his heart if you want to get inside and stay in her and
his mind
and heart. If you want to put meaning and purpose into your teaching beyond
transmitting
information, you have to know to whom you are teaching. When you teach, you
have to
remember where to look and whom to see; you have to know where to hear and to
whom to
listen. Don't look solely at yourself; don't think only of yourself; don't
just "me,"
"I," "me," "I" your teaching Take the concentration on "me" and "I" out of
your teaching
and replace it with a focus on serving a "her" or "him." You have to welcome,
embrace,
the inexperienced and imperfect but no less sacred people and help each help
her/himself.
You have to be ready to accept discomfort, inconvenience, and challenge. When
you start
doing that, you'll start teaching individual people and realize that teaching
is far more
than the passing on of information, testing, and grading. You'll see an
education is far
more about learning how to live the good life than merely learning how to make
a good
living."
"Let me give you an example of what I mean by relating a conversation I
had in a
hospital elevator last Thursday. I had just left my mother-in-law's room in a
somewhat
cold, depressed, and distracted state of mind. It was about 9 am. I was
tired; I was
down; I was drained. I had rushed to her room to help calm her down after we
had received
a call at 5:30 am from her sitter. She was confused, didn't know where she
was, and was
afraid Susan and I wouldn't find her. I was headed for class. It was her
third stay in
the hospital fighting pneumonia in two months while she was recovering from a
fall in
December that had cracked her tail bone and broken nine ribs. In this short
time, she has
gone from independent living, to assisted living, to respite care, to temporary
rehab in a
nursing home. The family was facing some hard decisions about how to avoid
placing her
permanently in a nursing home. Needless to say, I've been off my game since
her fall in
December as I struggled to stay in the game, recover from my hernia operation,
and be
there constantly for my Susan. Anyway with all this on my heart and soul, the
elevator
door opened. I went in, moved to the back of the car, and turned around.
Behind me, in
stepped a family. My mind and heart were a blank. I was in a haze and just
staring. I
really didn't notice them. I was doing everything I could to get my juices
flowing. I
didn't want to hurt the students in class. But, all I could think about my
Susan's sad,
teary eyes and thinking that there can't be a more pernicious disease than
dehumanizing
Alzheimer's. Then, I vaguely heard the young lady, in her very early twenties,
whisper,
'Grandma, that's my teacher we had been always talking about. That's Dr.
Schmier'"
"I slowly lifted my head, looked at her, and recognized her face.
Although I
didn't remember her name, I did remember some long, candid, and challenging
conversations
I had had with her. She had been in class some years ago. I offered a very
weak smile."
"The person she was whispering to turned to look at me. 'Are you Dr.
Schmier?
You really are Dr. Schmier, aren't you?'"
"I barely nodded, 'The one and only.'"
"'Ain't that the truth," she chuckled. 'I heard you had died.'"
"I thought I couldn't get lower than the moment I walked out of my
mother-in-law's
room. At that moment, I knew how Mark Twain felt when he had read his obituary
in the
newspaper."
"'No,'" I feigned a chuckle. Fighting a desire to be invisible, I
weakly
continued, 'Still here and kicking.'"
"'You retired, then?'"
"'Some wish I was, but no. I'm still having too much fun and still
have too much
to do.'"
"Then, the elevator suddenly started glowing. 'I'm glad to hear that.
You were
my teacher a long while back. I won't tell how far back. You won't remember
me.'"
"I asked her for her name. She told me. 'I'm sorry. I don't remember
you.'"
"'Well, it's been a while. I told you that you wouldn't remember me,
but I
haven't forgotten you. I can tell you now, as I have been telling my children,
especially
Latasha here, that was some class. It was more than a class; it was an
experience, a
life-saving experience. The only one that had real lasting meaning for me. It
had
affected everything I did in all my other classes and my whole life. I heard
from Latasha
it was as much for her. She'd come back from each class all excited and tell
me what you
all had been doing. I was jealous because we hadn't done a lot of what you're
doing now.
Sometimes she'd get down on you because you were in her face and wouldn't let
her get away
with doing less than she was capable of doing. She'd complain that you were
always
pushing her to do more than she thought of herself. I'd tell her, "Listen to
him, girl.
He did the same for me."'"
"'What did I do?' I asked as I began to perk up."
"'Let's just say, the class was more than the history I learned or that
first ever
A I got. You got me to get in my face and got me to kick myself in my butt,
and helped me
start changing who I was by helping me to showing myself who I could become.
You stuck
to me and changed my world. You showed me what an education was truly all
about. I've
been doing that all these years ever since with myself, my children, my
grandchildren, and
each of my students: never accepting limits, always pushing out boundaries. I
should
have told you this long before now, but never got around to it. I'm glad I ran
into you.
I guess it's the Lord doing His work.'"
"Feeling a sudden uplift that defied gravity, I humbly answered, 'Maybe
so. I'm
truly glad we met. Thank you. You've given me something I truly needed.'"
"Just then, the elevator doors opened. We hugged and went our separate
ways. The
chill and sadness of that the hospital room was tempered by the warmth and joy
in that
elevator. As I walked to the car, I thought, 'First Crystal. Now Caroline.
Someone is
giving me a message I haven't been reading lately.' And, I perked up."
"Want to shoot for something?" I emphasized, "Shoot for a eulogy like
that."
Make it a good day.
--Louis--
Louis Schmier www.therandomthoughts.com
Department of History www.newforums.com/L_Schmier.htm
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\
(229-333-5947) /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\__/\ \/\
/ \/ \_ \/ / \/
/\/ \
/\
//\/\/ /\
\__/__/_/\_\ \_/__\
/\"If you want to climb
mountains,\ /\
_ / \ don't practice on mole
hills" -
---
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