A shot in the dark discovered
My 20th century teaching past was lively, inventive, and intriguing. Throughout my career, I had opportunities to teach my way, not at the whims of others who wanted me to do their bidding. In sharing these experiences and my philosophy, I bring ideas and hope to today’s teachers to encourage them to take back their classrooms.
After nearly thirty entries, I received this comment from Patricia Sachs, a former student and now subscriber:
Frank, you were an inspiring teacher. I remember you ignoring us on the first day of class, head down at your desk intent on something. You had left some directions on the board, I think. It took us awhile to notice and take action, and all that set the tone for what I realized much later was you giving us the chance to take charge of our own learning. This was more than 50 years ago! In hindsight that experience set me up to thrive in the college I went to—Sarah Lawrence—where part of the process was that we interviewed profs 1:1 when deciding whether to sign up for their courses. Many of these courses had well under 10 people in them and “lecture” courses were large with up to 15. Awesome. All these years later, I continue to appreciate you creating the environment for that experience, which equipped me and I’d bet most of us to take charge of our learning.
When reading Patricia’s comment, I got goosebumps. To learn that one of my lessons more than fifty years ago having an impact left me speechless. Every day, I would walk into my classroom with a plan, anticipating possible responses, and would often leave having it not be all I expected. Patricia let me know that I have forever wanted my students to take charge of their learning, something I’ve been writing about for fifteen years. I do not know where that idea came from, but I am forever grateful. It may well have come in my first year from observing my mentor and colleague, Del Goodwin, a wise and extraordinary teacher, who invited me to take agency in my classroom, something I never let go throughout my career.
Patricia reminds me that teaching everyday was shot in the dark, not knowing what would transpire. And now with my Substack, I’m encouraged to stay the course.
