On Teaching: "A Comforting Thought"

In the midst of the turmoil of teaching English to adolescents, it’s comforting to remember that my students are in the very early stages of their lives as readers and writers. Most of them will live well into their 80’s and even 90’s, which gives them abundant time to develop the finer skills related to the use of their language. For at least 75 years, the boys and girls in my class will be reading and writing – and probably getting gradually better at it. This is a reassuring thought, one that always slows me down, enables me to take a deep breath, and helps me to remember that there’s no hurry. It’s not imperative that my 13-year-old students master the art of visualizing while reading, for they have decades ahead of them in which to practice. It’s not a major disaster in their lives if they don’t become superior readers of Dickens in 9th grade. Perhaps they’ll discover his greatness, as I did, in their 40’s, or even in their 80’s. Life is long. There are zillions of days left for my students to reach ever higher plateaus in the practice of reading and writing. This is not to say that I shouldn’t continue to be the best teacher I can possibly be. I need to carry on with taking my work as an English teacher seriously – just not too seriously. My students won’t be condemned to a life of lousy reading and writing if they don’t master the use of transitions and reader’s journals in my class. After all, they have something like twenty-nine thousand days left.