Lessons Learned from Veteran Educators
Reflections from the Former Teachers on our Staff
For those who teach or have taught, understanding the roles of teacher and learner as interchangeable is likely a very familiar concept — many teachers will tell you that they find themselves learning something new from their students every day. At McGraw Hill, we learn something new from the former teachers on our team every day. We’re fortunate enough to have hundreds of former educators among our PreK-12 staff, holding roles from academic design to professional learning, marketing, and sales. Their first-hand experience and insights inform the way we approach our work and strengthen our empathy for teachers and learners.
We recently asked some of the former educators on our team to share lessons that they carry with them from their days in the classroom. The response we received was overwhelming in volume and quality. Our team members shared thoughtful, sometimes even deeply moving, reflections and musings about their former roles as teachers, coaches, administrators, and professors. The response to our outreach illustrated clearly just how significant of an impact that teaching had on each of their lives — on each of their unique career paths, teaching was a period that shown brightly in their journey.
We could go on and on with all of the thoughtful “lessons learned” that they shared with us, but we picked just a few to highlight today. Here are ten of the most important lessons our staff members learned during their careers as educators:
Amanda Schaffer, Online Professional Learning | Former English, College Readiness, and Distance Learning Teacher:
“As a teacher I was always fascinated with the brain — how it operates so much more than just our physical bodies. Every day, new research is published confirming something I think teachers have always known: our brains can grow and they can change. It’s certainly a lesson I learned each year I taught! You ask any teacher if this is true and I believe you’d hear an overwhelming response of, “well of course our brains can change!” You see, teachers witness it on a daily basis. We’ve called it the “lightbulb effect” for years, the moment the students just click and get it. You know what that lightbulb moment is? That’s just the brain growing, that’s the brain expanding. How humbling it was for me as a teacher that I had the ability to see that every day in a variety of ways.”
Patty O’Donnell, Sales | Former English Teacher, Librarian, and Adjunct Professor:
“One of the most important lessons I learned as a teacher is to look beyond the surface. Students give us signals that if we pay attention we can see. It could be frustration on school work, or it could be life-changing, a parent in the military getting deployed, the death of a loved one, taking care of siblings because Mom has to work. Sometimes they need you to listen, sometimes they need your compassion and reassurance. Teaching is one of the most complex and caring professions.”
Monique Hamilton, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion | Former ELA Teacher, Principal, Director of Secondary Education, Director of K-12 Curriculum, and Superintendent of Dropout Prevention:
“Students want to know that you care about them as people before they care about what you know. Students want to learn what they need to do both academically, socially and emotionally to become a better person and contributing member of society. However, before they can get to what they need to do to strengthen their presence in the world, they want to know that their educator cares. Their family wants to know that as well.”
Euletha Dukes, Academic Design | Former Immersive English Language Adjunct Professor:
“Have an open heart and mind, listen to and believe your students, and honor their intellect. Students want to be challenged, but they also want (and need) reassurance, guidance, and support along the way. My students came with so much rich knowledge in their native languages, and I was there to facilitate their learning so they could express that knowledge in English. Sometimes I feel like I learned more from my students than they did from me. One year when the Arab Spring was at its height, I remember some late-entry students from Syria who fled their countries with a few possessions and the clothes on their backs. I’ll never forget that year, and it was a game-changer for me. Previously, I thought I already was a good listener and a good teacher, but working with them taught me to listen deeply and be more compassionate, two critical qualities a teacher should display. My classroom demographic included students from 10–15 countries at a time, ranging from South America, to Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. They taught me that the teacher is not the “sage on the stage,” but that students bring so much innovation and curiosity to the classroom. I made it my mission to honor that by making my classroom a safe space for them to flourish.”
Selena Dempsey, Professional Services | Former English and Reading Teacher, Instructional, Literacy, and Effectiveness Coach:
“I learned the importance of building meaningful relationships with your students. Students must learn to trust their teachers. Building trust and relationships can be done through transparency, honesty, and consistency. I also learned to expose my students to topics and content that they would see in the world. Teaching taught me the need to be flexible and open-minded. All students do not learn the same way. It is important to educate students in multiple ways. Through conversations, hands-on tasks, written responses, etc.”
Rachel Dewald, Professional Services | Former Spanish Bilingual Educator, English as a Second Language Teacher, and Reading Intervention Specialist:
“Teaching is performance art. Be flexible, move like water and make sure you build processes and trust from the get-go of the year. It will make everything easier. Students need to love you before they will learn from you. Play, have fun…teaching is fun!”
Susie McGeean, Professional Learning | Former Teacher, Reading Specialist, Principal, and Dean of Students:
“I learned as a teacher that I still have a lot to learn. My students taught me so much about interpersonal relationships, growth and development, and how students learn best. The more I listened to my students, the more engaged the students were in the learning. My students were great teachers and taught me a lot of lessons.”
Keli Denham, Learning Production | Former Early Childhood Educator, Administrator, and Consultant
“As a teacher, I learned that helping a child learn is all encompassing. Children need to feel seen, heard, and loved to learn. Learning cannot happen when children feel left out, neglected, or invisible. Integrating these critical social learning skills is essential for children, especially our youngest learners! (The same is true for teachers! They do their best work when they feel valued, trusted, and heard.) Supporting learners, teachers, and administrators with flexible solutions that help them meet the unique needs of their classes and schools is the key to fostering effective learning environments.”
Neal McCutcheon, Sales | Former Principal and Band Director
“Listen and be consistent. As educators, we are sometimes the most consistent element in a student’s life. We establish the guide posts, so when they veer outside the posts, we can help redirect, coach, lift, and motivate. Too often, society forgets we are here to support and encourage kids with life skills and solid foundations. The hardest time for many students are the breaks in the school calendar. Yes, they all want a break; however, many crave structure, a warm meal, and consistent faces. So my biggest lesson is to stop, listen, lift, and encourage.”
For more reflections on teaching, check out our collection of blog posts from current teachers in the Art of Teaching Project:
