What We Can Learn about Life from the Words of Our Teachers — A Reflection

Michael J. Motta
Aug 23, 2017 · 4 min read

5th Grade

“Mr. Alsheimer, do teachers have to be really smart?” I asked.

“No, you don’t have to be really smart. The point is just to be a little smarter than your student, then you can pull them up to where you are. It’s actually easier that way. Sometimes really smart people are bad teachers.”

Of course, he wasn’t saying that his 5th grade students were almost smarter than him. His point, I think, was that teaching is hard. Much more than being “really smart,” effective teaching is about positioning yourself so you are able to pull students up.

What I Learned: It’s one thing to know something — it’s a far different (and more challenging) thing to know where you are, where the student is, and how you can pull them up.

In other words: self-awareness.

7th Grade

“You type the wrong way,” Mrs. Parrish said, her hands on mine. “I don’t care how fast you can type ‘your’ way; you have to learn the right way. That’s what this class is about.”

If I had been a wittier, more confident kid I might’ve said what I only thought: I learned to type three years ago. I type twice as fast as you. I don’t look at the keyboard; you do. I rarely make typos; you made three while demonstrating to me your ‘proper’ technique.

But I wasn’t a witty, confident kid.

What I Learned: Don’t punish or ignore students’ outside knowledge or skills. They should be brought into the classroom. If the standardized approach doesn’t serve an individual student, customize it.

Mark Twain said it better: “Don’t let school get in the way of your education.”

8th Grade

“Final grades are solely based on attitude and effort,” Mr. Moriarty said, his gnarled hand emphasizing each syllable.

I thought this was silly. The world doesn’t operate based on attitude and effort, why should this class?

Except that he was right. And well ahead of his time.

What I Learned: In a world where you can Google anything, expertise is less important. What’s left? Attitude and effort.

10th Grade

“Oh dear. I hope you’re not like your brother!” Mrs. Trainor said, right before putting on a recording of Hamlet and taking out her Vogue magazine to read.

For the rest of the year, she proceeded to treat me like my brother who, the year prior, gave her a hard time. This taught me the importance of not pre-judging students and being cognizant of my mental models.

What I Learned: There’s the obvious ways not to pre-judge students — family members, gender, race, and the like — but there are more subtle ways too. For example, the student who asks the most questions is not necessarily the one contributing the most (quality > quantity), and I shouldn’t judge students by who they remind me of — the student who seems like Zack Morris might be more Screech Powers.

11th Grade

“I believe you this time,” Mr. Sullivan said, frowning a bit. “But next time I might not.”

I was a procrastinator, always coming up with some lame excuse why X was late. This was a wakeup call to me. I was ashamed. I respected Mr. Sullivan a lot, and I didn’t want him to think I was a bullshitter. I was much more motivated in junior and senior year, and then college, and this comment had a lot to do with it.

What I Learned: Give students a chance, but don’t be afraid to hurt their feelings or egos if it’s in their long term interest.

Freshman Year of College

His words were in red, underlined: “You used the word ‘abstract’ 17 times but I don’t think you know what the word means.”

Ouch. I wish I remembered what the assignment was. I remember it was fun. And I remember thinking I’d written a clever essay. And maybe — if abstract had a different meaning — it would’ve been clever. But it wasn’t, and my English professor let me know it.

What I Learned: the Pareto Principle. Maybe the devil is in the details, and maybe the devil is more fun, but without the basics covered, you’re wasting your time.

Junior Year of College

“No, I can’t let you re-do it,” Professor Ubertaccio said after a brief pause. “It wouldn’t be fair to the other students. But if you get As on everything else, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.”

This was in response to my begging Professor Ubertaccio to let me retake a part of a test I hadn’t seen. (I forgot to turn the page over.) Even if he believed me, he couldn’t willy-nilly say “sure.”

What I Learned: Flexibility is required, sure, but you gotta have rules.

Closing Thoughts

Do my words echo in any of my students’ heads? And, if so, what did those words teach them? I hope I wasn’t too abstract.

Also, I typed this article primarily with my two index fingers.

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Michael J. Motta

Written by

Asst. Professor of Politics. Writes here about productivity, learning, journaling, life.

Mission.org

A network of business & tech podcasts designed to accelerate learning. Selected as “Best of 2018” by Apple. Mission.org

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