I feel some tingles coming on. Next week will be goose bumps time for
me. On
Monday, after being "unemployed" for the two and half months upon turning from
teaching in
China, I'll be back in the classroom. Next Thursday, Susan and I will be
celebrating our
forty-second anniversary. It is "Tingle Week."
Now understand that for me, the anniversary day it's no special day,
although out
of fear and cowardice I've already gotten Susan an anniversary present and took
her out
for a romantic anniversary dinner this past weekend on our last summer hurrah
in St.
Augustine. It's not that I'm not mushy, romantic, sentimental, touchy-feely
and all that.
I am, to a fault. But, I feel that this day is not particularly different from
any other
day. I celebrate my time with Susan each day, especially with afternoon wine
and cheese
by the koi pond. Each night I peer into her hypnotic eyes and go to sleep,
comforted by
fact that I know she'll be lying next to me, after a slight but not
insignificant kiss and
a deep "love ya." I wake up every morning gazing on Susan's angelic beauty,
taking a deep
breath with the thought of how lucky I am, carefully and gently touching her
soft smooth
face so as not to wake her, and listening silently for a minute or two to the
sound of her
breath. I know I can quickly come up with a list of the things she does that I
dislike,
that annoy me, and that even I hate. I'm sure she has a much longer list about
me. But I
set all those aside and to think of the things I love: her sparkling eyes, her
deep
compassion, her enveloping presence, her brightening smile. Everyday, I feel
the warmth of
her lips on my mine and the touch of her fingers on my skin. Everyday, she
sends tingling
chills up and down my spine. Everyday, a gentle word eases my soul and lifts
my spirits.
Everyday our love fills all the nooks and crannies. Everyday a quiet "I love
you" drifts
from my lips to her ears and from hers to mine. Everyday, I'm there for her,
and she for
me, through the betters and worsts. Everyday, I know how lucky I am to have
gone on that
reluctant blind date forty-three years ago. Everyday, I'm lost in her magic
and beauty.
I get the tingles every time she is near me and I think about her. And, that
is more than
often each day.
Every day I know how lucky I am to have had my personal epiphany
seventeen years
ago, have survived cancer four years ago and a massive cerebral hemorrahage last
September. Every day I know how lucky I am that after forty-one years in the
classroom I
still love what I am doing and doing what I love; I still unconditionally love
each and
every student. Loving to teach with love for each student, for me, is "The
Tingle" by
another name. It is more important than what I call "The Technical." It's the
tingle
that makes sure your light never dims. Now, it's not an either/or situation
though. You
must have the subject know-how of the discipline, you must have the pedagogical
know how
of teaching. That is, you must have, "The Technical." But, above all, you
must have the
unconditional love for each student, "The Tingle." After all, it's the heart
that
controls the head, and you have to work hard at honing "The Tingle" no less
than you
should do with both aspects of the "The Technical."
Over the years, through adversity and challenge, Susan and I have
learned of the
need to put effort into our love and to put love into our efforts every day.
We have
learned to fall in love every day and to work at keeping our tingle sharp.
Without
effort, love is shallow and insincere, a meaningless utterance. Without love and
commitment behind it, effort is mostly wasted, a purposeless groping. Without
love and
dedication and perseverance, our tingle would have diminished long ago, and we
would have
grown apart over the decades rather than have grown together. If it wasn't for
love and
effort, we wouldn't still be on our extended honeymoon. It's no different with
teaching.
We teachers are persons serving other persons. Because "The Tingle" is
intangible,
because it can't really be quantified and easily assessed, it is easily
overlooked. That
omission flattens the goose bumps. It wrings out the tingle and won't let the
tingle
ring. We teachers are in the people business. People must always matter most!
I'll
repeat that because it needs repeating. We teachers are in the people
business. People
must always matter most!! When they don't come first, nothing really happens
or lasts
very long. So, when I talk of love I mean the habit of the spirit that holds
up every
individual student before me as a unique, miraculous, and sacred creation; I
mean the
habit of the heart that proclaims that every student is too important and too
valuable to
lose without a fight. I mean the habit of the mind that understands and is
being
constantly reminded that each student is someone's beloved son or daughter; I
mean an
acceptance that each student is a very special person, a very special person,
very
special. Very! I mean the habit of deep caring for the dignity, well-being,
and
integrity of each student.
Love for each student is like, as I once wrote, seeing an angel walking
before
each student proclaiming, "Make way, make way, for someone created in the image
of God."
Sound wishy-washy? It isn't. The heart controls the head; your attitude
controls your
actions. And, therein lays the true and almost unbelievable pedagogical power
of love.
When you are blasé about your work, how can you be excited? When you're down
on students,
how can you be up? When you truly want to be somewhere else, how can you be
there? When
you want to do something else, what can you do? When you're distracted, how
can you
focus? What can you possibly accomplish? But, when you truly love to teach
more than
anything else, when you truly unconditionally love each student, when you truly
want to
make a difference in her or his life beyond offering information, there is no
limit to
what you will do and no limit to what you can do. There's stubbornness in
love. It calls
for unconditional inclusion rather than exclusion. Love is the name we give
attention to
each student's possibilities and opportunities instead of to her or his
problems and
limitations. It forces you to see who each can become rather than focus on
whom each
presently is. Love means you have a feeling of responsibility for others.
It's the
commitment and perseverance to help them help themselves actively overcome their
challenges, difficulties, and problems. When I talk of love and teaching, I'm
saying,
"Care. Believe! Have hope! Don't just say these words. Live them! Work at
them."
So, I can't think of doing anything more for a student then to
unconditionally
love her or him, for no shadow can stay dark in its presence, no demon can
stand up to its
power, no fear can overcome its faith, no blahs can drown out its hurrahs.
Just like my
love for Susan.
Doggone I'm tingling just thinking about all this.
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) /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\__/\ \/\
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/\/ \
/\
//\/\/ /\
\__/__/_/\_\ \_/__\
/\"As you want to climb
mountains,\ /\
_ / \ don't practice on mole
hills" -
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