The Inspiring Teacher Series: Interview with Paul Cohen

Welcome to The Inspiring Teacher Series - a tribute to inspirational K-12 teachers and college professors, and what we can learn from them and each other about the craft of teaching. Now let's meet...

Paul M. Cohen
High School Science Teacher
St. Francis Prep
Queens, NY

Bio

- Graduated from Queens College with an MS-Ed in Biology and Secondary Education

- Currently working on a chemistry degree at SUNY Old Westbury
- Teaching for 10 years. Six years at St. Francis Prep in Queens (The nation's largest catholic school and ground zero for the swine flu : 0)
- Retired from NYPD in 1997 as a Detective assigned to the Organized Crime Control Bureau due to line of duty injury

What inspired you to teach?

My inspiration to teach came from the most unlikeliest place. From Arnold Schwarzenegger. In or around 1990 I saw the movie kindergarten cop. I always liked kids and was involved in coaching little league baseball. Jokingly, I thought I would become a "kindergarten cop." I was injured in the line of duty in the mid 90's and my early retirement seemed imminent. I needed a plan. I thought back on becoming a teacher and decided to go for it. My initial choice of K-6 changed quickly as 1) I fell in love with science and 2) I actually did some student teaching in a k-6 environment. In a "life imitates art" moment, I walked into a kindergarten class as a substitute teacher and the kids burst into tears. I'm standing there with twenty 5-year olds in tears. Remembering how Arnold saved the day in the movie, I grabbed a school aid to watch the kids and ran to my car to retrieve some insect samples I prepared for an entomology unit I produced for college. The kids were instantly hooked. Moments later an entourage from the superintendents office walks in with press in tow and here I am, freaking out, but calmly talking to the kids about how many legs an insect has and how many shapes can we use to draw them. No amount of undercover police work can prepare you for that, but I too was hooked on teaching. I did, however, decide that high school was a better choice for me. Additionally, as a police officer, I often encountered kids who were lost and heading closer to jail than home. I felt as a teacher, if I could change the course for one kid then I've made a difference.

Tell us about your career prior to teaching. Any words of wisdom for people wanting to transition into a teaching career?

Prior to teaching I was a NYC police detective. I experienced all kinds of people and had all types of supervisors. Coming from a para-military background I was able to transition quickly and easily to the supervision style of academia. I was able to take orders and criticism with equal enthusiasm. I am not saying that as a teacher I agreed with, or even complied with, every order given. Nor did I accept all criticism. You don't survive on the street by not following your instincts. I learned to smile, nod and disregard that which I didn't feel comfortable with. That is the key to teaching. YOU must be comfortable with what you are doing. If not, the kids will see right through you and your effectiveness goes out the window. What works for me may not be what works for you. So, for those coming into the game late like I did: The late great martial artist Bruce Lee once said that when approaching a new master, one must show that he is willing to learn by coming with an empty cup. The idea being that a full cup can hold no more. An empty one can be filled with all that is useful. So, to all those new teachers, empty your cups and fill it with all you think useful and spill over all that doesn't help. Just one more thing - don't ever spill out in front of your supervisor. Smile, nod and quietly disregard!

What teaching methods are most helpful in guiding students towards their goals?

Educrats like to talk of innovative pedagogy, standards both national and local, multiple intelligences and a myriad of other strategies. I use what works for the class which can change from day to day and class to class and even minute to minute. The material dictates the type of lesson. I usually have a plan a, b and c for every unit. I won't stick with a workshop model if I detect it is not working for the material. I do believe firmly in discovery and problem solving learning. I often present some basic concepts and leave some obvious road signs out when I assign a new concept. When a person can put something together for themselves, they have an ownership that can't be delivered by another person. If they can claim ownership for the knowledge then they will want to know more, just to know why, not just to score well on a test.

What would you like to improve about your teaching?

I am always looking for improvements for my teaching. I view my skill set as a toolbox. If I am presented with another version or a new tool by a teacher or even a supervisor, I am always willing to try it out. New is not always the answer. We have a smartboard in every classroom in my school for enhanced presentations. It works great, but when the Internet goes out or when technology has a techno-fit, one best still have some chalk in the room.

What is the one thing you wish you'd known when you started your teaching career?

After taking about 20 credits of education courses not one of them truly prepares you for the day to day operation of a classroom. It is frightening when for the first time you enter that room and realize that you are in charge and all these faces are staring at you and expect you to do or say something. Be prepared! Classroom management issues are multiplied without good preparation. You must be everything to all students in that room. They will ask you things you can never be prepared for. You can't be prepared for all the extras that will go on. But of utmost importance is to get them seated and engaged as quickly as possible. Teenagers are self centered by nature and demand instant gratification. You must teach them to delay that hormonally driven order. The one thing I wish I had known before I began teaching is how much work it really is. No one provides you with lessons. You must do it all. You work through weekends, holidays and after school. And, the work keeps coming. Remember that you must decide how you will assess the work you give out. Learn to regulate the flow or you will drown yourself. That is the major cause of first year teacher burnout. This will, however, be the most rewarding and satisfying career you can ever imagine. For all the hard work and frustration you are paid back with the kind of unconditional love that is reserved for parents.

College Class from Midnight to 3:00 a.m.

How's your schedule looking these days? Looking for a good teacher to student ratio?

A community college in Maryland has joined a growing trend nationwide: midnight classes.
Inside a brightly lit classroom, professor Paul Vinette stands near a chalkboard making comical noises. He is trying to keep his "Introduction to Psychology" class engaged and awake. His class begins at midnight and ends at a yawn-inducing 3 am. Kory Fox-Ponting is 1 of 10 students taking the Wednesday course.

Continue reading College Holds Classes At Midnight To Meet Demand

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130911603

"Do What You Love, But Don't Jeopardize Anyone You Love; Including Yourself."

Lesson 33 from Unlocking Your Rubber Room was just quoted on Twitter by a fellow tweeter:

@Perry_Binder "Do What You Love, But Don't Jeopardize Anyone You Love; Including Yourself." - Perry Binder J.D.

My reply back:

Good words R far gr8er than the utterer!

Lesson 33 - Do what you love but don’t jeopardize anyone you love. Including yourself.

Recognize and assess the risks in every major decision you make. And how they affect those around you.

When I left the full-time practice of law to teach, I was single and had no children. Would I have made such a career transition if I had a spouse and two kids at the time? I’d like to think so because in the end, career satisfaction is one key to personal fulfillment. Some opportunities are rare and don’t come around often. The difficult part is learning whether to jump at or pass on an adventure when your responsibilities require the support of those around you and a closer look at risk and reward.

For-Profit College, Kaplan University, is Scrutinized

An eye-opening and disturbing article on higher education in the for-profit sector:

Scrutiny Takes Toll on For-Profit College Company

[O]ver the last few months, Kaplan and other for-profit education companies have come under intense scrutiny from Congress, amid growing concerns that the industry leaves too many students mired in debt, and with credentials that provide little help in finding jobs.
Reports of students who leave such schools with heavy debt, only to work in low-paying jobs, have prompted the Department of Education to propose regulations that would cut off federal financing to programs whose graduates have high debt-to-income ratios and low repayment rates.

Continue Reading:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/10/education/10kaplan.html?hpw

Follow Your Dreams or Pick a Practical Major?

I had a great time with the students at Georgia State University in this session (five of my own students showed up!!). I went over the lessons in this link:

Follow Your Dreams or Pick a Practical Major?
http://www.perrybinder.com/college.htm

Sample Dream Jobs listed by student participants:

Own a non-profit to work with young girls; Math teacher; Self-employed chiropractor; Photographer; Musician; Marketing Exec for Nike; CEO of global corporation; Music supervisor; NFL general manager; Business lawyer; District Attorney; Restaurant owner

Lessons Discussed on How to Get There:

- Know the consequences of no regrets
– Figure out of you’re a structure person or someone who can self-motivate at any given time
– Figure out how to compensate for your weaknesses
– Are you a “Touch Wet paint” person?
– In stressful moments, lean on your strengths
– Do what you love but don’t jeopardize anyone you love. Including yourself.
– Never crush anyone’s dreams
– Find your light bulb moment by helping others
- Be willing to walk in anyone’s shoes
- Education and Preparation - the keys to creating options
– By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. When you’re finished changing, you’re finished (Ben Franklin)
– Learn at your own pace. You’ll get there eventually

My number one takeaway of the day:

The riskier your dream, the better your backup plan must be

Lessons of Justice for College Students: Grandpa versus Big Coal

Just posted on The Huffington Post...

Grandpa versus Big Coal

This is not an environmental issue. This is about a little human being. -- Ed Wiley (Grandpa) speaking to West Virginia Governor Manchin

While the media insults and labels the youth of every generation like an X or Y or Z (oh you Slackers, Echoes, and Netters), I instead see college students bringing energy and a common message of hope to the table: to make a difference in their lives and those of others. And in an Introduction to Law class, it is my job to find them real world cases to teach lessons of justice and injustice. So let's meet Ed Wiley and the kids at Marsh Fork Elementary School.

CONTINUE READING @ The Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/perry-binder/grandpas-school-kids-vers_b_774929.html

Binder on TV News - Facebook Privacy

A five minute interview with 10 seconds on camera. Oh the cutting room floor!

Enjoy!

Facebook/Social Media Privacy Settings

http://www.wsbtv.com/video/25433647/index.html

Math, Science Teachers take weightless flight

LOGAN, Utah (AP) — Five Utah educators experienced moments of lunar, Martian and zero gravity during a Weightless Flights of Discovery program geared toward inspiring teachers to inspire students. During the flight, participants experienced lunar, Martian and zero gravity. They floated, flipped and pirouetted mid-air, did push-ups on one finger and tossed each other through the air.

The program is geared toward middle school math and science teachers with an interest in the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Continue reading: Utah math, science teachers take weightless flight

http://www.westport-news.com/news/article/Utah-math-science-teachers-take-weightless-flight-705302.php

Community College Prof: Every rock tells a story

"He makes learning fun,” said Josh Lee, a Wilmington resident who was a student in one of Phil Garwood’s classes nearly 10 years ago. Lee said he took the class because he heard from friends that Garwood’s class would be different, involving field trips and more interactive lessons.

“I just think there’s certain people out there who have a gift, and Garwood’s gift is the gift of teaching and spreading the word about geology,” Lee said.

Continue reading Teacher shares ‘gift of teaching, spreading word about geology’

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20101009/ARTICLES/101009626/1004

Oprah and Bill Gates Discuss Their Favorite Teachers

The White House's new TEACH Campaign features videos of prominent Americans sharing the teacher or teachers that inspired them most.

Who made the difference for you?
Bill Gates says, "There wouldn't be a Microsoft without what they did." The software pioneer shares the teachers who mattered most.

Oprah and Bill Gates Discuss Their Favorite Teachers

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/04/oprah-john-legend-jj-abra_n_748704.html

Don't Jail Me Bro! Bail Me Out Mr. Prof Man

Just posted at Huffington Post College:

Don't Jail Me Bro! Bail Me Out Mr. Prof Man

My classroom syllabus says: No legal advice questions! Yet, I still get telephone calls from students, usually when it's too late -- after they have a court date.

You know how you get one call before you are hauled off to prison? Well, I got this call from "Steve": Perry, I'm in the DeKalb County Detention Center. Get me out of here!

Continue reading at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/perry-binder/dont-jail-me-bro-bail-me-_b_734426.html

The Inspiring Teacher Series: Interview with Brendan Halpin

Welcome to The Inspiring Teacher Series - a tribute to inspirational K-12 teachers and college professors, and what we can learn from them and each other about the craft of teaching. Now let's meet...

BRENDAN HALPIN

Author & Teacher

Boston, MA

Bio: Brendan Halpin is the author of the memoir Losing My Faculties as well as several novels for adults and young adults. He's in his thirteenth year of teaching, and he lives in Boston with his wife Suzanne, their children, and their dog.

What inspired you to teach?

I just kind of fell into it. I had to teach English in order to participate in this program that took me to Taiwan after I graduated from college. I was kind of dreading it, but when I got there, I actually enjoyed it. The idea that work was something you could enjoy rather than just endure was pretty revolutionary to me, so I decided that was probably a job I should pursue.

Losing My Faculties is one of my favorite teacher-written books, especially because of your humor and unabashed honesty. How how the book helped or hindered your connection with current students and teachers?

Thanks! Honestly, it hasn't affected it that much at all. It wasn't enough of a runaway bestseller to have really penetrated the consciousness of most people I meet. I think it's had a pretty corrosive effect on my relationship with some of the teachers I used to work with, but I don't really talk to those people anyway.

What teaching methods are most helpful in guiding students towards their goals?

I would say whatever methods allow the teacher to teach with passion will help students. I've had and seen great teachers that lectured nonstop and great teachers that have students work in groups. I don't think one method is necessarily better for all students, but if the teacher is really engaged and having fun, the students will be learning more.

What would you like to improve about your teaching?

I'm still just so disorganized. I really admire and envy people who just naturally know how to keep everything where it's supposed to be.

What is the one thing you wish you'd known when you started your teaching career?

A few things, actually:
1.) You can successfully ignore whatever the administrators tell you in those meetings on the first couple days of school.
2.) Almost every workshop you're forced to attend will be dull, insulting, or both. Try not to take it personally.
3.) A lot of people who've been teaching for decades are very wounded. Try not to judge them too harshly. You'll get wounds of your own.
4.) The wins you'll get along the way will be better than any other reward and will make it all worth it.
5.) There are a lot of different settings in which you can teach. Keep moving till you find the right one for you.

Any words of wisdom for teachers who want to be entrepreneurial - such as balancing a teaching career with a writing career?

I would say don't expect to do anything else that requires a lot of energy or creativity in your first three years of teaching. You need time to establish your bag of tricks before you can spare any creative energy for other projects.

Teacher Reflects Back on 31-Year Career

His first year salary was approximately $10,000, and he said he did the math to figure out how much he was making per hour. "I averaged four cents an hour," he said. "I sat down the last day of school with (retired Dixon Elementary teacher) Rick Stinson - who was also a first-year teacher that year - and we said to each other, 'Why are we doing this?'" The two of them finally decided their love for working with children was the motivation, and more important to them than the amount of money they were making per hour. "I really enjoyed the kids in the classroom," he said.

His advice to new teachers: learn about human behavior.

"The big piece of advice would be if you haven't had a human psychology course, take one," Willoughby said. "Getting kids motivated to do the work, and understanding why they're not doing their work is the real challenge of teaching. I would also tell them (new teachers) they need to have a sense of humor, and not to come into it like they're the enemy or you're their drill sergeant. They are people, too. "The other takes care of itself," he added. "The highlight won't be the 'straight-A' kid or the athlete that won the state championship. It'll be the ones that changed for the better."

Continue reading Making A Difference - Dixon Teacher Reflects Back on 31-Year Career:

http://www.isurfwebster.com/news/local-news/5650-making-a-difference-dixon-teacher-reflects-back-on-31-year-career.html

Supporting Our Community Colleges

I am a huge supporter of community colleges. I was an adjunct professor for several semesters at Miami Dade Community College and Broward Community College before moving to Georgia to teach full-time at the university level.

Simply put, community colleges offer excellent job training skills at an affordable price. They remain the best value for re-training, though their message gets lost in the noise of slick for-profit college commercials offering similar choices at drastically higher tuition cost.

Supporting Our Community Colleges, by Dr. Jill Biden

I am writing today with some exciting news and a great video that I want to share with all of you. I was delighted last spring when President Obama asked me to convene the first-ever White House Summit on Community Colleges to highlight the importance of community colleges to our students and our economy. I am pleased to announce today that this summit will take place on Tuesday, October 5th.

Continue reading:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-jill-biden/supporting-our-community-_b_717670.html

Teacher living her dream to teach

My inspiration to continue teaching every day is my students.

When I enter the classroom I have an opportunity to light a fire in them and my greatest reward is seeing that light come on and the ‘ah-ha' moment.

I have the privilege of affecting these children's lifelong learning.

Sound like someone you know? It's likely you. Continuing reading Moura teacher living her dream

http://www.centraltelegraph.com.au/story/2010/09/16/malindas-living-her-dream/

Teachers share what they've learned from students

If you want to teach young children to write, you must “cultivate your sense of astonishment.” I heard professor Donald Graves say that many years ago. He explained to us that if a 5-year-old comes bursting in with the news that he saw a firetruck on the way to school, you don't say, “Yeah, there's a station down the road. I saw that truck, too.” What you do say is, “You saw a firetruck! Wow! Did you hear the siren? Was it going really fast?” We need to share in the excitement a child feels about a world in which everything seems new. It's the way we help them learn to love language and to use it well. “Cultivate your sense of astonishment.” So I did. I cheered and exclaimed over the firetrucks, the baby teeth that fall out and the new ones that come in, the tadpoles that become frogs, the dandelions that turn into clouds of tiny parachutes, and learning to tie your own shoes. I said that it was all amazing, wonderful and, yes, astonishing. Then, one day, I realized that all of it is.

— Mary Mello teaches at Union Elementary School in Montpelier.

Continue reading Vermont teachers share what they've learned from students:

http://www.timesargus.com/article/20100912/FEATURES02/709129854/1016/FEATURES07

Five Ways to Ace College Exams

Wouldn't it be great if college classes were pass/fail, and students could focus on learning rather than competing for grades? Let's get back to the real world for a second, as I propose what I would do as a student to prepare for college exams:

CONTINUE READING @ THE HUFFINGTON POST:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/perry-binder/this-professor-sucks-five_b_705162.html

"Capturing the Friedmans" Dad Was My Unforgettable Teacher: Apply His Classroom Lessons to Set His Son Free

Just posted in The Huffington Post:

Capturing the Friedmans Dad Was My Unforgettable Teacher: Apply His Classroom Lessons to Set His Son Free

Arnold Friedman was a quirky nuclear physics teacher who wrote something odd in my high school yearbook: Perry - I would like to meet your 3-eyed kids, but don't blame me! (a seeming poke at the irradiated material we handled in his college-level class, and the resulting mutations) He was a funny, inspirational, award winning teacher whose teaching techniques I model in my college classroom. In 1986, students organized a retirement party and recalled that he was "unforgettable" and "he turned my life around."

In 1987, Mr. Friedman and his seventeen year old son Jesse were arrested and accused of molesting over a dozen young children in their home basement, where the retired teacher opened a computer school for kids.

CONTINUE READING @ THE HUFFINGTON POST:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/perry-binder/capturing-the-friedmans-d_b_689465.html

Humor in College & Blogging @ The Huffington Post

Today, we take the Crazy Classroom on a class trip to The Huffington Post, where I'm blogging on college-related issues. First up is humor...

The Case for Humor in the College Classroom

As college professors nationwide prepare for a new academic year, my message for them is simple: Lighten up! Your students just might engage and learn.

I never dreamed of being a college professor. Does anybody? When my third grade teacher asked us about our dream job, Molly said an astronaut; Evan, an actor. Perry: Obtain a terminal degree and lecture on legal morasses.

Continue reading at The Huffington Post...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/perry-binder/the-case-for-humor-in-the_b_679826.html

The Inspiring Teacher & What Makes a "Great" Teacher?

Good News - My Inspiring Teacher Interview Series now has a web site which compiles all of the teacher interviews from the Crazy Classroom blog. Please visit:

The Inspiring Teacher Series

http://www.perrybinder.com/teacher.htm

Also, I found an interesting article on teaching, including this segment:

What I do believe is that it's very rare to find a "natural teacher" who is a success from her first day to the last class twenty-five or thirty years later. It requires a number of years of "seasoning" in which many mistakes and many inspirational moments give us the repertoire of approaches that enable students who are willing learners to excel, but also those who are reluctant learners to arrive at a "tipping point" that can produce remarkable results. Bur (sic) to conclude that a "great teacher" is the most significant factor in determining the success or failure of a student twenty-five years later is, at least to me, ignoring the importance of many other circumstances, not a few of which are not "measurable."

Continue reading

Educating for Democracy: What Makes a "Great" Teacher?

Joel Shatsky

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-shatzky/educating-for-democracy-w_b_669140.html

Inspired by High School Theater Teacher and Her Play about AIDS

Bianna's High School Teacher's Play Changed Her Life
By BIANNA GOLODRYGA

How many people can say a high school play changed their life? I can and it's because of my inspiring teacher who wrote that play, Sharon Ferranti. Ferranti's play tackled a difficult issue – AIDS. For many Americans, the impact of AIDS in the mid-1990s was little more than a blip on the nightly news.

But for Ferranti, it consumed her life. "When you're 65 and 70, 75 you expect to have gone to a lot of funerals and hospitals. You expect to be watching your people go," Ferranti said. "That's not supposed to happen when you're in your mid-30s."

Continue reading: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Inspirations/bianna-golodryga-inspired-high-school-theater-teacher-play/story?id=11110388
Bianna Golodryga Inspired by Her High School Theater Teacher and Her Play
Bianna's High School Teacher's Play Changed Her Life

By BIANNA GOLODRYGA

The Case for $320,000 Kindergarten Teachers

From The NY Times...

The Case for $320,000 Kindergarten Teachers
By DAVID LEONHARDT
Published: July 27, 2010

How much do your kindergarten teacher and classmates affect the rest of your life?

Economists have generally thought that the answer was not much. Great teachers and early childhood programs can have a big short-term effect. But the impact tends to fade. By junior high and high school, children who had excellent early schooling do little better on tests than similar children who did not — which raises the demoralizing question of how much of a difference schools and teachers can make. There has always been one major caveat, however, to the research on the fade-out effect.

Continue reading:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/business/economy/28leonhardt.html?_r=1&ref=education

Top 10 Spelling Errors in Law Papers

Here's my list of mistakes that students (and attorneys) make all of the time

1- File a mew (new) motion
2- Going to trail (trial)
3- Singing (Signing) an Agreement
4- The Compliant (Complaint)
5- Tired (Tried) to flee the scene
6- Breech (breach) of contract
7- Statue (statute) of limitations
8- Legal principals (principles)
9- The principle point (principal)

10-Recover principle (principal), court costs, and interest

Honorable Mention…
A faulty (faculty) member – maybe the student got this one right

Painful Mention...

An attorney filed a Motion in court asking the judge for more time due to his upcoming back disk surgery; however, he mistakenly placed an unfortunate "c" where the "s" should be in the word "Disk."

The Inspiring Teacher Series: Interview with Mara Mooney

Welcome to The Inspiring Teacher Series - a tribute to inspirational K-12 teachers and college professors, and what we can learn from them and each other about the craft of teaching. Now let's meet...

Mara Mooney, J.D.
Assistant Professor of Legal Studies
Clayton State University

Morrow, GA

Ms. Mooney is a graduate of Lafayette College in Easton, PA (B.A., cum laude, Government & Law; Phi Beta Kappa) and Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, GA (Notes & Comments Editor, Emory Law Review; Dean's Fellow in Legal Research and Writing). She is the author of the textbook, Fundamentals of Georgia Real Estate Law, and co-author of the forthcoming article, “Assessing the Role of Personality Traits in Student Performance in Traditional, Hybrid, and Online Classes.” She has been teaching at the university level since 1996. Ms. Mooney is a full-time assistant professor in the ABA-approved Legal Studies Program and Paralegal Certificate Program at Clayton State University. She was instrumental in developing the program’s four-year bachelor’s degree in legal studies, and she is in the process of developing a minor in legal studies. Ms. Mooney is an active faculty member at Clayton State, where she has served on several university committees, such as Faculty Council, the University Hearing Panel, and the University Curriculum and Planning Committee. Prior to joining the faculty at Clayton State, she practiced law with Alston & Bird, LLP in Atlanta, GA, where she represented national commercial real estate clients. She also taught at two ABA- approved paralegal studies programs in Pennsylvania. At Clayton State, Ms. Mooney teaches traditional, hybrid, and online courses in Introduction to Law & Ethics, Legal Research & Writing, Real Estate Law, Contracts & Torts, Law Office Skills, and Homeland Security Law.

What inspired you to teach?
The hope that I could make a difference in people's lives inspired me to become a lawyer, but it also inspired me to ultimately become a teacher. My former life as an attorney was rewarding in some respects, but I felt that the long, solitary hours toiling away in a high rise office building, one cog in the corporate wheel, wasn't my true calling. I did a lot of soul searching, thought about the values and human interactions that were important to me, and realized that I was meant to be a teacher. Over the last ten years, I can truly say that the time I spend with students in and out of class, is the most rewarding and enlightening part of my professional day. I am so fortunate to have found a career that combines my two loves, law and teaching.

What teaching methods are most helpful in guiding students towards their
goals?
The teaching methods I find most helpful are to be active, engaging, and enthusiastic in my classes. Our students crave as many hands-on activities as possible. The more we can give students an opportunity to experience the actual type of work they will be doing, the more the students feel energized to achieve their professional goals. Students also respond well when current events are used as a catalyst for discussion in class. Finally, I believe that most students perform at an optimal level in class when their teacher promptly replies to emails and conducts him or herself in a fair, yet approachable manner. I once had a law school professor who made me feel incompetent for coming to his office with a question about civil procedure. As a result of that unpleasant experience, I realized the power that teachers have over their students' achievement in school. I try to serve as an example to students by treating them in a respectful, encouraging manner.

What would you like to improve about your teaching?
I am an organized person, and yet, I never have enough time to make those tweaks and improvements to my classes that I always say I am going to do, but never seem to have time to address before the next semester begins.

What skills should be emphasized in high school to succeed in your college class?
Writing, writing, writing! Poor written communication skills will translate to lower grades in school, but students may not realize that a poorly written cover letter or resume will also be a barrier to entry into their chosen career. I constantly tell students to read aloud what they have written and to proofread their work. There is an excellent book, written in an engaging style, entitled “Woe is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English” by Patricia O’Conner, that can help. Students should understand that people will form professional impressions based solely on the quality of someone’s written work.

What is the one thing you wished you would have known when you started your teaching career?
I wish I would have known how rewarding it is - I would have started teaching even sooner!

Why It's So Hard to Teach for America

From The NY Times:

A Chosen Few Are Teaching for America

HOUSTON — Alneada Biggers, Harvard class of 2010, was amazed this past year when she discovered that getting into the nation’s top law schools and grad programs could be easier than being accepted for a starting teaching job with Teach for America.

Ms. Biggers says that of 15 to 20 Harvard friends who applied to Teach for America, only three or four got in. “This wasn’t last minute — a lot applied in August 2009, they’d been student leaders and volunteered,” Ms. Biggers said. She says one of her closest friends wanted to do Teach for America, but was rejected and had to “settle” for University of Virginia Law School.

Continue reading: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/12/education/12winerip.html?adxnnl=1&ref=homepage&src=me&adxnnlx=1279303377-lPYYIqulcG+KpQPsB0DEFg

On Facebook, Telling Teachers How Much They Meant

Great article in the NY Times:

On Facebook, Telling Teachers How Much They Meant

Darci Hemleb Thompson had been on the lookout for Alice D’Addario for many years. From her home in Hampton, Va., Ms. Thompson, 49, who is married and has a 12-year-old daughter, was determined to find Ms. D’Addario on the Internet. She tried every search engine and networking site she could find.
About 18 months ago she hit the jackpot.
“Nice to see one of the greatest teachers of all time on Facebook!” Ms. Thompson wrote on Ms. D’Addario’s wall. “I love to go to your page just to see your smiling face. Even your eyes still smile. You are an amazing person!”

Continue reading: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/nyregion/14facebook.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&hpw

Read comments from AJC Education writer Maureen Downey and her readers:

http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2010/07/14/adults-use-facebook-to-find-and-celebrate-former-teachers/

The Inspiring Teacher Series: Interview with Greg Henley

Welcome to The Inspiring Teacher Series - a tribute to inspirational K-12 teachers and college professors, and what we can learn from them and each other about the craft of teaching. Now let's meet...

L. Gregory Henley, Ph.D.
Director, International Center for Entrepreneurship

Robinson College of Business
Georgia State University
Atlanta, GA

Bio
Dr. Henley is the director of the Herman J. Russell, Sr. International Center for Entrepreneurship at Georgia State University. His passion is to help entrepreneurs succeed and his experiences have prepared him to do so. With a BS from MIT and an MBA and Ph.D. from Columbia University, he’s been blessed with opportunities in both business and academia. Prior to joining Georgia State University, Dr. Henley taught at the University of South Florida’s (USF) Center for Entrepreneurship, helped start the entrepreneurship undergraduate major at the University of Tampa. He worked in the Center for Entrepreneurship at Columbia University while pursuing his Ph.D.
Dr. Henley’s entrepreneurial experience includes starting a mortgage company, an investment advisory firm, acquiring a community bank in Alabama and another community bank in Florida. Although he began his career working for large companies, including Procter & Gamble, Chemical Bank, and New England Telephone Company, entrepreneurship has always been his passion. Dr. Henley has held positions of President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. His consulting assignments included evaluating bank acquisitions, working with de novo banks, E-commerce start-ups and implementing the installation of a web site for a bank client. He is an active investor in small businesses and real estate.
He is interviewed frequently for his views on a wide-range of entrepreneurship topics by the media and has been quoted in media outlets ranging from the Wall Street Journal, Atlanta Journal Constitution and the Christian Science Monitor to Heart & Soul. Dr. Henley also wrote a monthly entrepreneurship column for Business-to-Business, an online publication for Atlanta executives.
Community involvement is an important part of Dr. Henley’s life. He is an active member of St. James United Methodist Church. He has served as a judge for business plan competitions for organizations including the National Black MBA Association’s Entrepreneurial Institute, the Youth Entrepreneurs of Atlanta at Morehouse College, and the Future Business Leaders of America. Dr. Henley also speaks to youth organizations throughout the nation and recently has addressed the Piney Grove Baptist Church youth program, the Atlanta After-School All-Stars, the Montgomery, AL chapter of Jack and Jill of America and M3Boys in Berkeley, CA.
He has begun a multi-year initiative, “Dr. Henley’s Road Trip,” in which he intends to interview entrepreneurs in all 50 states for a book. His goal is to also host the monthly entrepreneur forums that he currently hosts in Atlanta during his trip around the country.

What inspired you to teach?
During my business career, I noticed that a lot of people, especially people of color, have started businesses. However, many of the same people seemed to have trouble running the businesses effectively. I thought that I could help people (of all colors) run businesses more effectively, so went back to school with that objective in mind. Since my Ph.D. program, I have been teaching entrepreneurship and business strategy at business schools and, hopefully, my students can run a business better than if they hadn't taken my class.

What teaching methods are most helpful in guiding students towards their goals?
In the classroom, since I teach business courses, I try to relate everything back to the real world so students can relate to something they are familiar with. This includes bringing in businessmen, using case studies and talking about some of my business experiences. In addition, whenever possible, I like students to reach out to the business community. Examples of this include assignments for students to interview entrepreneurs and internships. For business classes, application of the material is critical to prepare students for the real world. So, telling them something and asking them to take a multiple choice question may be good for some things, but is a poor method for many business concepts. Getting the students to apply what they've learned is a goal. Often, this can be done via case studies and sometimes by working on projects for businesses. Some of the more challenging (for me and the students), but rewarding courses I've taught involved students working for real businesses. The students are able to apply business concepts, but see how businesses are actually run - the good, the bad and the ugly.

What would you like to improve about your teaching?
It's very important that I reach the students on their level. If I can get their attention, then I can teach them. Improving my teaching requires that I get constructive feedback to insure that what I'm doing is working. As I get older, using tools that are consistent with the way students learn can become more challenging, so I need to work to make sure that I'm communicating in ways they grasp. So what I'd like to improve is my knowledge and understanding of what is important to our students.

What skills should be emphasized in high school to succeed in your college class?
The skills that should be emphasized are certainly business skills. But, more broadly, I'd like for students to be able to think more analytically and in more depth. Other specific skills are a basic grasp of math and, importantly, writing skills.

What is the one thing you wished you would have known when you started your teaching career?
The value of testing early whether the students understand the material I'm presenting. In one of my first classes, I presented the material and got the verbal feedback I hoped for when I asked questions that indicated the students understood what I was telling them. However, when it came to apply the material for an assignment, the students did poorly - and my hopes and expectations were dashed. What I learned is that some of the early exercises, questions and tests that I needed to implement should be better tied to what I expected the students to learn. Also, that I needed to implement those exercises, questions and tests earlier in the semester so that I have time to make adjustments if I need to. The other thing I learned is that quite a few students are in the class to get a grade, but not necessarily to learn. This is in contrast to me whose primary reason for being in the classroom is because I want to teach.

The Inspiring Teacher Series: Interview with Jody Blanke

Jody Blanke
Professor of Computer Information Systems and Law
Director of Undergraduate Programs
Stetson School of Business and Economics
Mercer University
Atlanta, GA

Bio
Jody Blanke has been a full-time college professor for the past 27 years. He earned a B.S. in Computer Science and Psychology and an M.S. in Computer Science at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and a J.D. at the Emory University School of Law. After practicing law and clerking for a judge for several years, Blanke starting teaching full-time at St. John’s University in Jamaica, NY. After two years at St. John’s, he came to Mercer University to chair the Computer Science Department at the College of Arts and Sciences in Atlanta. After five years there, he moved to the School of Business and has been there ever since.

Blanke has had law journal articles published in the Columbia Science and Technology Law Review, the American Business Law Journal, and the Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal, among others. His main areas of research are privacy law and copyright law. He is currently serving his second stint as Director of Undergraduate Programs at Mercer. He is most proud of twice receiving the Outstanding Faculty Award, which is bestowed annually based primarily on the voting and comments of graduating students.

What inspired you to teach?
I don’t believe that there is any one thing that I can point to. During my school years, I always seemed able to explain things well to my fellow classmates. While I was in graduate school, I had an opportunity to be a Teaching Assistant and I enjoyed that a great deal. After practicing law for a few years, I looked into the possibility of teaching a course or two as a part-time instructor. As it happened, St. John’s was looking for a full-time instructor and I gave it a shot – no master plan here.

When I look back at teachers I had when I was in school, two names pop out at me. The first was an Earth Science teacher I had at Linden Junior High School – Harvey Moder. He was a retired fireman and was very dedicated to his students. I happen to have him the year of the Teacher’s Strike in New York City. We missed almost two months of school. He invited students to his house during the strike so that we wouldn’t get too far behind. He also arranged a trip to a science lab at his alma mater – Hofstra University. It was the first time most of us had been to a college campus. He went out of his way to help us learn.

The second great teacher I had was Robert Greenman at Madison High School. He taught English and Journalism. He also went way beyond the job description in his teaching and his supervision of the publication of the school newspaper. Back in those days, we had to bring the content to a typesetter to set up the pages for publication. He would drive a few of us to the printing press in Manhattan and we would spend many hours laying out the pages. Mr. Greenman cared greatly about his students. In thinking back on it today, I realize that he understood that each student was different and that he needed to treat each student differently.

What teaching methods are most helpful in guiding students towards their goals?
One thing that I have come to realize is how differently people learn. There is no “One Size Fits All.” There are visual learners, auditory learners, kinesthetic learners and probably other types as well. It becomes particularly challenging because most of my delivery comes by way of four-hour lecture periods. It helps to have PowerPoint presentations for people to read, but it is absolutely necessary to get students engaged in the discussion.

I generally start off all my law lectures with Legal Show and Tell. Students are supposed to bring in stories about legal news that they read, heard or saw during the past week. For the most part, these are about current events, about which many students have at least some interest. And almost always, I can tie the legal issues to some topic that we will be exploring. It also helps to get as many students as possible involved in the discussion.

I like to teach by example. I think it is much easier to understand an idea if you can see it in action, rather than merely in the abstract. Quite often you can discuss the nuances of the topic by simply varying the facts of the example. Also, I believe that it is imperative to explain why we have certain laws and rules, rather than merely what they are. It is much easier to learn something if you understand the rationale behind it.

And finally you must not lose sight of the forest for the trees. It is very difficult to learn about something in a vacuum. You must be able to step back and look at the big picture, to understand how and where the rule fits in. I try to do this as often as possible in each lecture.

What would you like to improve about your teaching?
One of the biggest challenges I face is to keep the material fresh and entertaining. The last thing I would want someone to say about my class is that it is boring. When I first started teaching, I taught probably 8 or 9 different computer science courses each year. I much preferred that to teaching the same course over and over again. I was continually learning new material and changing my courses because the subject matter changed so rapidly. For the past 15 years or so, I have pretty much been teaching the introductory legal and ethical environment course in our various business degree programs – the BBA, the MBA, the Executive MBA and the Professional MBA. While each course is somewhat different, the basic topics in law remain very similar.

I think it was Joe DiMaggio who, when asked why he always played baseball so hard, responded that someone at the game might be seeing him for their one and only time, and that he wanted to make sure that that person saw him play the game the way it should be played. Before I teach something like contract law – which I could probably start teaching within seconds notice if awoken at 3:00 in the morning – I have to get myself excited about the subject. I have to realize that my students probably don’t know much about contract law and that I have to bring energy and enthusiasm to the classroom to make the subject as interesting for them as it is for me.

What skills should be emphasized in high school to succeed in your college class?
As a college professor, I have to emphasize how important it is to be able to write clearly and succinctly. It is extremely important. But I also would like to mention two other skills – probably more accurately described as traits – but traits that can be learned and honed. The first is inquisitiveness. Asking questions is of utmost importance to successful learning. You must ask questions in order to learn. The second is persistence. To truly learn something you must never give up. If one approach to learning something doesn’t work, try another approach. (And by the way, one of the most effective ways to learn something is to have to teach it.)

Do you have any last bits of wisdom?
Yes. For those high school and college students who do not yet know what they want to major in – don’t worry! Take a variety of courses. Take courses that sound interesting to you. Ultimately, you will be most successful in learning about something that interests you or for which you have a passion. Try something different!

Teaching Justice in Class through Documentaries

When my class studies The Buffalo Creek (coal mine) Disaster in West Virginia from the 1970's, I try to bring the book to life in my Introduction to Law class with clips from a documentary on the subject.

As an extension of that book, we also follow the plight of Marsh Fork Elementary School, and how a grandfather in West Virginia took it upon himself to move a school (which sits downstream from a river of coal sludge held back by a dam) away from danger. See my March 25 post: Move Elementary School out of Harm's Way .

Now, a new documentary highlighting the efforts of that grandfather (Ed Wiley) is available, and I will be sure to add this doc to my class on teaching justice: http://www.oncoalriver.com/

Mr. Wiley's efforts took awhile, but the forces of justice, leverage, and political embarassment eventually led to funding for a new school:

Goodbye Massey Coal Dust: Welcome to the Ed Wiley Elementary School!http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/goodbye-massey-coal-dust_b_559167.html

There has always been a "marriage" between Justice and Documentaries - the latter serving as a slow vehicle of change for the former. The documentary referenced above (On Coal River) was screened at the AFI/Discovery Silver Docs conference in June. The conference featured several workshops including this interesting sounding session which should be taught in every film school:

TEACHING FILMMAKING, TEACHING JUSTICE: CONNECTING STUDENTS TO THE GREATER COMMUNITY

The University of Alabama–Birmingham works with students across the arts and sciences who have never picked up a camera for anything more serious than a snapshot. They use a collaborative critique process to hone their eye and encourage a community co-authorship process to help them shape their stories. This session will give participants a look at new pedagogy on student civic engagement and techniques for introducing and incorporating filmmaking in all subjects. PRESENTER Michele Forman, co-director, University of Alabama, Birmingham Digital Community Studies Program

http://silverdocs.com/conference/about-conference/

Never-say-quit teacher leaves a final lesson

Quick to smile, always armed with a sense of humor, a tireless advocate for children’s education and the “best teacher ever,” students and faculty say. On June 17, [Steve] Birdsall will stand in front of his fifth-grade classroom for the last time. He is retiring after a 23-year career in the Issaquah School District — 21 of those spent at Maple Hills....

But unlike other classrooms, this teacher stands in front with a walker.
Birdsall, 51, was diagnosed with a rare degenerative disease, known as multiple system atrophy, last fall.

CONTINUE READING: http://www.issaquahpress.com/2010/06/15/never-say-quit-teacher-leaves-a-final-lesson/

Never-say-quit teacher leaves a final lesson

Chantelle Lusebrink: clusebrink@isspress.com

Elementary School Teacher Publishes Reading Response Activity Sheets

Erica Bohrer (who graduated from my alma mater, Binghamton University) published her first teacher resource book Just-Right Reading Response Activity Sheets for Young Learners: 50 Reproducible Graphic Organizers That Help Children Write Meaningful Responses to the Books They Read (Scholastic, 2010). She sells lessons and teacher downloads online at teacherspayteachers.com. Erica is a first-grade teacher for Lindenhurst Public Schools on Long Island, and an adjunct off-campus professor at Brooklyn College.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Just-Right-Reading-Response-Activity-Learners/dp/054513370X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1276804984&sr=8-1

Amazon Product Description:
Help kids extend and deepen their reading experiences with these delightful, comprehension-boosting graphic organizers. Designed for use with fiction and nonfiction books, the simple formats help young readers really think about what they read and record their thoughts in an organized, meaningful way. Topics include identifying story elements, sequencing events, drawing conclusions, summarizing, making connections, examining words, and more. Encourages critical and creative thinking! For use with Grades K–2.

Former HS Teacher's dream led her to career as astronaut, seat aboard shuttle

When Dorothy “Dottie” Metcalf-Lindenburger tells students to reach for the stars, she means it literally. ... Metcalf-Lindenburger, who taught five years in Vancouver, Wash., completed astronaut training in 2006. She is a member of NASA’s Teacher in Space program and visits schools to inspire teachers and students to think more about space, science, math and technology.

Continue Reading: http://www.gazette.com/articles/led-99025-aboard-seat.html

See also: The Teachers in Space program
http://www.teachersinspace.org/

The Teachers in Space program is working with many new spaceflight companies to make sure that teachers are among those who have a chance to go. As a new age of opportunity unfolds, who better than teachers to lead the way? Unlike NASA's Educator Astronaut program, which takes teachers out of the classroom to join the NASA astronaut corps, Teachers in Space will allow teachers to “keep their day jobs.” Training will take only a few weeks; and many teachers will be able to complete the program during school breaks which will eliminate having to take time away from the classroom.

The Inspiring Teacher Series: Interview with Travis Tingle

Welcome to The Inspiring Teacher Series - a tribute to inspirational K-12 teachers and college professors, and what we can learn from them and each other about the craft of teaching. Now let's meet...

Travis Tingle

Band Teacher

Union Grove Middle School

McDonough, GA

Bio
Travis Tingle has been a middle school and high school band teacher for 8 years. He taught at Hull Middle School in Duluth, GA; Jonesboro High School in Jonesboro, GA; Stockbridge Middle School in Stockbridge, GA; and is currently the band teacher at Union Grove Middle School in McDonough, GA. Travis received his undergraduate degree in K-12 Education with a concentration in instrumental music from Georgia State University and his Master’s in Business Administration degree from the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University.

Travis was awarded the Business and International Education Scholarship for overseas studies in International Business in spring 2008. He spent 16 days in South Africa with the J. Mack Robinson College of Business studying the social, educational, and economic landscape. He perceives the global business community as a large contributor in aiding countries both financially and socially by producing jobs and partnering with the academic community. His students have been selected to participate in the University of Georgia Honors Clinic, the Georgia All State Band, Troy State University Honors Clinic, Metropolitan Atlanta Youth Wind Ensemble, Atlanta Youth Wind Ensemble, and the Music USA Contest in Orlando Florida. His students have consistently received excellent and superior ratings in all Georgia Music Educators Association large group performance evaluation categories.

What inspired you to teach?
Much like Bridget Robbins, one of the other bloggers for the inspiring teacher series, teaching was the last thing on my mind when graduating high school. My dad was an assistant principal and my mom was a world history teacher. Dinner discussions were not at all inspiring or very positive!! Don’t get me wrong, they did a great job in their fields but the schools they taught in were very difficult. The communities around the schools were plagued by drugs, alcohol, and broken families. I remember finding a baseball bat in my dad’s closet in his office and I was immediately reminded of James Belushi playing the role of Ricky Latimer in the movie “The Principal!” Who in their right mind would want to enter the teaching profession after hearing those horrifying stories at dinner every night!! Not me! I was dead set against being a teacher or a pastor! In my teenage opinion, both were underpaid and had to deal with crap being shoveled on them every day! Who needs it!!

I had no idea what I wanted to do as a career and after two quarters I dropped out of college and decided to work at a restaurant waiting tables until I figured it out! Several months later I decided I would give the college of education at Georgia State University a chance seeing as several of my friends I attended high school with were education majors there. I went in as a K-12 Music Education major because I was very involved in music through my school years as a kid. During my middle and high school years I was fortunate to be selected as a member of the Georgia All State Bands 8th-12th grade and was also selected to attend the Governor’s Honors Program in Jazz Studies at Valdosta State University. The opportunity to teach private saxophone lessons afforded me the break I needed to quit waiting tables and still make a living as an undergrad! Then the unthinkable happened: I actually started to enjoy teaching and watching the kids get better! I was full force going to finish my undergrad in education and get a job teaching!

I was VERY fortunate to have great mentors that taught and still teach in the Atlanta area. While watching them teach I took endless notes and my mentors allowed me to teach their classes and gain experience using their techniques!

**Here’s the most important facet of learning to teach in the classroom for people currently teaching, student teaching, or just registering for your first education courses as an undergrad: You must have mentors that have held successful teaching careers from surrounding schools and from the University you attend. Go ahead and fight the pride and understand you know nothing about teaching in the classroom until you have copied their techniques and molded and developed them into your own over several years by trial and error (I call it “Trial by Fire”)!! Then give it some time and hang in there! Hey, it takes 5 years of teaching to get over the shock of it and then things in the classroom will get a little easier and VERY rewarding!!

What teaching methods are most helpful in pushing students towards their goals?
I teach 6-8 grades, so Character education is something my students and I practice in the classroom. It may sound old fashioned to many, but students by and large do not know how to address adults or each other. We spend a considerable amount of time in the first two weeks of school going over my expectations and role playing them in class. It’s simple stuff like, being in your seat on time, raising your hand before you speak or get up, do not play your instrument until the director begins rehearsal, and do not touch anyone’s property except for your own. The big one is, you must answer with yes sir or yes ma’am, or simply yes or no. There is no yeah-uh huh business that goes on in our classroom!! Another crucial expectation is disrespect with gestures like smacking lips and sucking teeth!! I use Bon Qui Qui (look it up on You Tube) at Burger King as an example of this and the students think it’s hilarious that I am re-enacting Bon Qui Qui!! I have a student act like the teacher and I act the part of a student. They call on me for misbehaving in class and I respond by smacking my lips and sucking my teeth. Then, the student (acting like me the teacher) gets up and writes my name on the board! Hey, it gets the point across and they get to see how ridiculous people look when they behave this way! I have the students demonstrate the wrong way and the consequence of me writing their name on the board and they receive what we call in my school a “citation”. Of course, they don’t really receive a citation from me while we are role playing the expectations! The first 2 weeks of school is perfect for this because the environment is not threatening and most students are not misbehaving yet!! Basically the procedures of the classroom are ingrained in their minds so they become second nature to the student. Now, it’s not as easy as it sounds, the first few weeks will be a little difficult and there will be quite a few names on the board!!!

What is the one thing you wish you'd known when you started your teaching career?
I wish I had known how mentally and emotionally draining it was going to be. If I had considered the emotional drain and the pay scale, I would have majored in something other than education. I wish I had known how many years of experience (5-6 years) it would take for the shock of teaching to wear off! Presently, I enjoy my job at my new school and am happy teaching, but I had no idea how much of an uphill struggle it would be to get there. Most jobs, careers, and life in general are common in that way. Unfortunately, Generations X and Y were not well prepared for the reality of the world. Our teachers and guidance counselors painted a very rosy picture of the world and told us everything was going to be okay if we work hard and pursue our dreams. That is partly right but it was definitely not the whole truth!!

The Inspiring Teacher Series: Interview with Barry Hantman

Welcome to The Inspiring Teacher Series - a tribute to inspirational K-12 teachers and college professors, and what we can learn from them and each other about the craft of teaching. Now let's meet...

Barry Hantman
Homebound Instruction Teacher
Queens, NY

Bio

Barry Hantman won his school spelling bee in 5th, 6th, and 7th grades. His inexorable decline began shortly thereafter and he’s been trying to make a comeback since 1973. Barry graduated from Bayside High School (Go Commodores!), Binghamton State University (Go Bearcats!) and received his teaching Masters degree from NYU (Go . . . ?). Barry has worked as a Home Instruction teacher for the NYC Department of Education since 1984. Relevant quote: “If Perry perceives me as an inspiring educator, I fear we may already be in trouble.”

What inspired you to teach?
Teaching was not a calling that beckoned me. I had always been interested in politics and government (so-called “political science”), thus I’d assumed I wanted to practice law. But the dull reality of law school inspired me to find a better way. I don’t believe in reincarnation so if I only have one life to live, I decided it would not be as an attorney. Since my parents were teachers, the field of education seemed like a natural option to explore.

Please explain the “day in a life” of a homebound instruction teacher.
A homebound instruction teacher educates students who cannot attend school for physical or emotional reasons. A typical case is a broken ankle/leg for about 7 weeks, but I’ve had students recuperating for months from heart surgery, a kidney transplant, leukemia, etc. Or a pupil might get expelled from school and is at home awaiting placement at a new school. Once I even taught a youngster in the Witness Protection program! I work with students from grades 7-12, but occasionally teach even kindergarteners or first graders (and have proudly taught 3 such children to read). Not only do I instruct students of various ages and home environments, but I also teach kids from the most diverse possible ethnic backgrounds. I work in Queens County, New York City – according to the US Census, the most diverse area on the planet!

A Home Instruction teacher is like a basketball point guard – you must know when to speed things up (such as reviewing for state exams) and when to slow down the pace (at times that a child isn’t feeling well, whether physically or emotionally). You start to get adept at readings faces and moods; within 20 seconds of walking through the door you can usually tell how productive the day is going to be.

I love my job but of course, it has its own peculiar set of hassles. Driving from apartment to apartment means finding several parking spots a day, no easy feat in congested parts of the city. I might only find a one hour meter but the lesson is for another half-hour. Then I have to remember to go back downstairs to feed the meter or I’ll return to find a nice orange parking ticket slapped on my windshield. Building elevators are frequently out so I have to walk up and down several flights of stairs. And driving in the snow is a hassle. I have a fuel-efficient Nissan Sentra that squeezes into tight parking spots but it doesn’t like heavy snowfalls.

What teaching methods are most helpful in guiding students toward their goals?
I have the luxury of working one-to-one so I try to take full advantage. I assess student strengths/weaknesses in order to focus on areas of concern. Many classroom pupils who failed a course or state exam and now must retake it will suddenly flourish with their own tutor. It’s incredible what a difference the extra private attention makes. This is true for the math and creative writing instruction I give but also for the tennis and guitar lessons I arranged for my son; there is no comparison between one-to-one and thirty-to-one.

I also utilize what’s around me. I scan a home’s walls and tables for homework essay ideas. For example, a Sikh student’s apartment displayed a large drawing of the Golden Temple at Amritsar. I asked Chami to write about the Temple’s significance and to outline some of his faith’s tenets. I read Chami’s essay the next morning while sipping chai tea his mother had prepared. Another pupil’s family were Afghan refugees. They had an enlarged photo of the father in between President George W. Bush and Afghan leader Hamid Karzai. Detailing that treasured photo was Shaheera’s writing assignment. Even the smell of a delicious meal being prepared could very well lead to a recipe request for homework (and to a free sample for the teacher).

What skills should a teacher training program emphasize? De-emphasize?
The most critical factors can’t be taught – intelligence (both IQ and even more importantly, EQ – emotional intelligence), motivation, creativity, sense of humor, and character. But all those qualities can be enhanced. I believe the best teacher training involves hands-on experience mirroring the actual job you seek. My teaching Masters degree courses were a joke, consisting of either theoretical jargon or somewhat interesting concepts that I could’ve easily grasped on my own. I would eliminate such grad school requirements and instead mandate a two year “student teacher” training program in classrooms led by outstanding educators.

What would you like to improve about your teaching?
Nothing. I’m done. Actually, my view is that as soon as anyone in any profession grows overconfident, it’s the start of that person’s downfall. The ancient Greeks were right – we must guard against complacency (hubris). I’m still always learning from my students, National Geographic, the Science section of The NY Times, museum exhibits, The History Channel, etc.

What is the one thing you wish you’d known when you started your teaching career?
I’ll just relate the sage advice of a retiring veteran homebound teacher fondly known as Bamby. At the annual end of June luncheon, Bamby was called to the microphone to deliver a few parting gems of wisdom. Perhaps he would reflect upon the meaning of his 35 years in the program. As Bamby cleared his throat, we all attentively leaned forward. His gaze met ours. Then Bamby uttered his immortal final words as a Home Instruction teacher: “In the winter, park in the sun. And in the summer, park in the shade. I’m moving South tomorrow. Bye.”