American Women's Club of Hamburg Currents Magazine January 2014 | Page 9

FEATURE
Even during classes at University of Kansas,
decorum presided. A university friend who
chose the teaching profession was the first to
mention incongruous classroom behavior—
chalk erasers hitting his turned back, mimicry
from students during classes. But jeez, he taught
at an inner-city Chicago high school! Through
the years, and new friendships, those who taught
talked about the change in students’ attitude
and their lack of preparedness. Therefore,
whenever anyone has complained to me about
teachers, I counter with the topic of parenting
skills. It’s obvious when parents are involved
in their children’s upbringing: mom taught
preschool—after we’d all left the nest—and by
the end of the first school day could spot those
toddlers whose parents spent time nurturing
them. The flip side is, it seems teachers I’ve
known who’ve worked in the real world bring
extra value to the job. One managed restaurants
working her way through school, another was
Captain of seafaring ships before changing
professions; then there’s the ex-lawyer, and yet
another left broadcasting—you get my drift.
Service industries are especially good training
grounds to become nimble at dealing with
many distinct personalities.
My initial foray into teaching was in the 1990s
with students in their last year at a private
Hamburg design school—piece of cake; I’m
still in contact with one of my students. Yet
as the century turned, more parents had to
work, producing latchkey kids—the ideal
situation for mischievousness. A San Francisco
friend teaches at a school for troubled teens—
it’s common knowledge many are armed;
another bemoans the deterioration of students’
vocabulary. In Kansas City, Rose said she

spends more time trying to keep up with the
educational system’s continual “recreating the
wheel” than on lesson planning. All concur
that parents and administrators think they’re
miracle workers, albeit support is scanty. With
squeezed school budgets, all spend out-ofpocket for their classrooms; all look forward to
retirement. All acknowledge it’s not everybody,
but “one rotten apple can spoil the barrel.” And
can make a teacher’s life hell.
Substitute teaching this century has increased
my appreciation for the tough terrain teachers
travel today.
Many parents’ attitude is “just deal with it,”
since they’re on fast-track careers, and/or give
social obligations priority. Teachers are hired to
educate, yet increasingly “political correctness”
has seeped into the system. Those students
undisciplined at home carry that lack of
guidance into classrooms. Oftentimes cliques
form; kids today are unbelievably clever and
Internet wily. When dealing with adolescent
misdeeds, the outcome often overrides common
sense. Educators aren’t receiving the backing
they need: from parents, school administrators,
or governments. Simultaneously, teachers
continue to be bombarded with paperwork,
meetings, and extracurricular obligations.
An applicable Irishism is: “When you point a
finger, there are three pointing back (at you).”
Parents need to learn parenting: that “No.”
is a sentence unto itself. School systems need
to step back and reevaluate. Youth require
guidance, nurturing, and love, especially during
the formative years. Just as educators should be
given the help, and the respect they deserve
educating our future generations.

What ’s A G ood Teacher?
by Chris L.

So, I got to thinking about what really makes a teacher
a good teacher. I believe it is the ability to engage the
kids they teach and to instill in them the desire to
learn. To do that requires a real passion for teaching.
I have known two teachers in my life that really fit that
bill:
My first grade teacher was such an inspiring force. She
instilled in a horde of 25 to 30 six-year-olds a fierce
Currents January 2014

desire for learning. Not an easy job when you consider
that ours was kind of a “bad” neighborhood with a lot
of subsidized housing and therefore a lot of kids from
homes where learning was not spelled with a capital L.
Latchkey kids were relatively common and if anyone
had known about ADHD back then, I think several
of my classmates would have been diagnosed. But she
just kept pulling us all in and it really felt like we were
a unit. As is customary here in Germany, we had the

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