The Independent’s schoolteacher/ diarist discovers a future teacher — and makes her pitch.
June 6, 2006
For the past two days, I’ve been having one girl (the one who wrote me the “Ms. Coggio” poem) teach the class Beowulf. I sit in the back of the room and watch her and learn from her.
My god. This girl is a teacher. She has such great instincts when she instructs the class. She uses the same techniques I did when we read Titus Andronicus. She reads sections aloud, or calls on students to read aloud, and she interprets with and for them. She makes connections between Beowulf and the story of Jesus. She connects events from Titus to biblical ones, and she asks students to make the connections themselves.
Today, she asked a boy a question about the excerpt he’d just read. She basically did a comprehension check. When he didn’t answer correctly, she waited and simply asked, “Are you sure?“The boy double checked the excerpt and answered correctly. She called on virtually every student in the room, asking students to interpret the poem, to connect it to other literary works, to make personal connections. During class, the principal came in to talk to a student, and I motioned to him to just stay and to watch what was happening. We caught each other’s eyes a number of times and exchanged a knowing look: This girl is a teacher.
Yesterday, after her first time leading the class, I was in awe. I told her, at the end of the day, that she needs to be a teacher.
“I know, Miss. I want to. My mom wants me to go into scientific research like her, but I don’t know. I really just want to do teaching stuff.”
Again, today, I approached her at the end of class.
“If you don’t go into teaching,” I said, “this world will be a sad place.”
This student has such an incredible ability to engage others, to interpret literature, and to help others learn. She’s got it all, and an incredible intellect. I’ve been witness to her many moments of genius, of her great thinking this year. Each time I’ve been in more and more awe. This girl should be able to go to an Ivy League school. She should be able to do great things with her life. I really feel lucky to be able to work with her.