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by Robert Hoffman, English teacher
New Caney High School, TCTA Member-at-Large
I would like to share some good news with you about my grade 12 English classroom. What motivates me so much to teach? Here is an example of why I stay in my chosen profession.
I teach students the principles of logic, reasoning, and critical thinking in my regular grade 12 English class. The first three months of the year are very painful for my students. They cry and complain how difficult, picky, and challenging I am as a teacher, and many students want to change to another teacher. I give students worksheets over the stories the class has read that have many critical thinking and logic questions. Students are required to read the story very carefully in order to derive the answers. Also, I give a weekly essay on a story the class has read and I expect them to write it rationally with critical reasoning. This means the main body paragraphs are unified and coherent, and each paragraph has a proper quote in it. I teach them the steps of deductive logic and how to set up their paragraphs to draw a correct inference based on the facts. Although many students struggle and complain the first couple of months, something magical begins to happen. There is a change of behavior and students begin to think deeper and reach new levels of learning.
After a couple of months of painful practice, students improve both their reading and writing. Their close reading of the text allows them to draw inferences and evaluate evidence. They know the parts of the paragraph and how to sequence their sentences to lead to an inference. This instruction in critical reading and academic writing carries over to their other classes, and teachers in history, economics, and government report improvements in student writing. Student confidence improves, and most pupils feel by the end of the year that they can enter a college classroom and write good papers their first year of college in any class.
The greatest reward for me is toward the end of the school year. Slow writers become functional and adept. Good writers become even greater in writing their essays. After months of pain and challenge, students mature and are able to think rationally, critically, and reflectively.
The greatest reward for me does not stop after my seniors graduate. Many of them keep in touch with me by e-mail and visit me to share with me their progress in college. They bring their essays and research papers they completed in their college classes and show me all of their excellent grades. It is this reward that makes me proud to have chosen the profession of teaching.
Do teachers make a difference? You bet they do! Whether students go on to college or not, critical rationalism is applicable to every profession and every aspect of living. The fact that a teacher helped a student to become a more rational and intelligent person is something that will never be measured by salary dollars or benefits. The reward for me is that I was a positive force in a student’s life.
Share some “good news”… If you’d like to tell us about a favorite student or colleague, a student success story, a special accomplishment or event, a change in your career/school that led to better things, or anything else that reflects the good things that are happening in your school, please send us an e-mail OR give us a call at (888) 879-8282. We’ll share selected highlights in future issues of the magazine.
Web posted: 04/01/08 from The Classroom Teacher, Spring 2008
