What I Shoulda Said, Had I known...

Closing words after a 35-year career in teaching

Hey Team –

I’m wanting to rewind time and say what I should have said in front of staff yesterday rather than the ramble ensuing from an unexpected spot on stage. I’d be honored if you read it, though it would feel better to look ya’all in the eye and speak to you directly, not through digital media. Time can’t be rewound so here goes, probably a bit longer than would have been fair during a staff meeting:

THANK YOU for your kind words, Alex. It has been wonderful to work with you during my 2-year off-ramp from 33 years of teaching, closing the circle at BHS, where I began the transition from Journalist to Teacher by conducting required observations. Alex, your dedication to your students and your philosophies is a wonder to behold.

THANK YOU to J.G. for the fine example you set, building community, providing unique opportunities, promoting a love of the arts, and providing us with shining combination of Relationships, Relevance & Rigor, the things that matter if you are going to reach kids in a meaningful way. The recognition you received is well deserved. May your ways spread like wildfire.

THANK YOU to J and the hiring crew who brought me aboard and to ya’all for this gorgeous “bouquet” of sedums which, I think you will agree, serve well to depict a community of diversity, longevity, adaptability, and inherent wisdom. I will be torn whether to plant it in my garden where it will spread widely, or indoors AS IS to remind me of my time here, and the wonderful closure to my blessed career.

THANK YOU to anyone who extended a friendly comment, question, gesture or invitation to beverage or adventure. The world (and any campus) can be a cold-hearted place when it lacks meaningful human connection. I know it. You know it. Some of our students know it painfully.

I feel lucky to claim that I got through high school and college writing my papers by hand or on actual typewriters, doing research by walking to the library and conducting live interviews. Cellphones, laptops and internet weren’t part of life when I first went into teaching, and I didn’t really use a computer until I earned my Master’s for Technology in the Classroom. Virtually everyone in that program became lead of technology for their entire school district. In contrast, I used the program to get a salary boost, to learn what I needed to survive in the quickly changing world, and to argue with everyone that technology could be beneficial, but is also likely to be alienating, divisive and dehumanizing.

For my student teaching year and the first two years after, I did grades via a paper gradebook, having to use a hand-held calculator to figure out averages and submit a data-driven final grade. Nobody but me had access to this data, and so students and parents had good reason to wonder, “How am I doing?” As some of you know, I calculated N.G.’s 10^th grade Honors English grade. He did all the work, did a good job on it all too.

Being the young guy on campus, hungry for every leadership role I could get, I was tasked with giving the presentation about a “New Way” we would be implementing, to post grades online so all stakeholders could monitor student progress any given time. I was SOLD on the idea and did a spectacular job with my sales pitch, aided by visuals projected by the old-style projectors (do any of you even know what I’m talking about?) Response to my presentation was unanimous and consistent, variations on a theme of: “You did the best sales pitch possible. But your product was unsaleable.”

As you know, some attempts to build consensus are processes manufactured for appearance. In other words, Online Grading became the new way despite lack of a single positive staff vote. As you know, nobody even questions the practice anymore. What has long been clear to me is that we are on a train running with nearly uncontrolled momentum. The thing is, we only have a general sense of the direction we are going but don’t have a clear idea of our destination, regardless of the time spent building “Mission Statements” etc.

I have had the distinct privilege of opening four schools. A new school always comes with new funds, a high-powered administration that has nearly complete control over who is hired, a chance to start with a mission statement that is REAL, because it serves as a new focal point for a new way carried out by people ON FIRE to do things differently, do things right. The vast majority of my career has been in highly collaborative contexts, working with people who have skills built from significant experience, but are just jaded enough from the past to take risks, try something new, do something that is meaningfully different. It worries me that “The Train” I referenced earlier is one that is increasingly dangerous for anyone truly inclined to take a meaningful risk. Please don’t quit trying new things. But be careful. For your sake.

As you can probably tell, I could go on ad infinitum, because I’ve had a LOT of time and experiences in this Biz and, quite frankly, I’m still addicted to the sense of purpose it provides. But I have just a few more things I hope to convey:

I first considered becoming a teacher because of my experience volunteering to help marginalized adults gain literacy skills and quickly grew addicted to the joy of helping people learn to read and write. I saw immediately that Relationships, Rigor and Relevance are the key to EVERYTHING in education. It is true for adults. It is true for teachers. It is true for everyone. Hard work is good work, but what does “hard work” look like? It doesn’t mean a LOT of work, ENDLESS work, BUSY work. It means work that is respectful to human integrity and individual ability, that requires sustained focus and effort, that leads to a sense of accomplishment when completed. The number of points attached to it is utterly meaningless. The degree to which it is “required” doesn’t really matter. The only thing of significance is whether or not the work is worth doing, is good for the people involved.

In a few days I will be stepping off The Train, proud of my effort and work, aware that I am from a “different world” and that much of “my way” is, by default, irrelevant. As always attempted, but now possible, I will be spending most of my time in nature and virtually none online. I will be reading books, not listening to blogs, will be writing letters by hand or by typewriter, will be carving rocks, not “marking up” papers. Even so, there is a wonderful resource I will consult at the start of every school year for the rest of my life. I was going to call it the Benoit College Mindset List, but apparently the name has been changed, or rather the resource has been adopted by a different school. Either way, you will find it here: https://www.marist.edu/w/marist-mindset-list-class-of-2024 For you who are new to the profession, the list probably won’t provide any “A-HAs.” But give it time. It won’t be long before you are astonished to note that the people you work with have no conception of something you take for granted. Please consider reading the list regularly. Please know that there will be a time when your students seem to occupy an entirely different planet than the one you know and love.

As always the world is changing.

You are a critical instrument in this change.

Your work matters.

Your students matter.

You matter.

More than you know.

Wishing you well and saying goodbye. Let me know if you want to stay in touch.

LouJ