Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Schoolday Coverfolk:
National Teacher Appreciation Week, May 6-10




In my other life, I'm a middle school teacher; I spend most of my days surrounded by twelve year olds, trying to balance entertainment with mentorship, and curriculum with life lessons. Before that, I taught in a boarding high school, tutored gifted and talented kids in a tiny rural elementary school, ran a before-school program, and did public demonstrations at a science museum.

And before that, I was a dropout. And before that, I was a goofball, who needed a little good advice now and then, but couldn't really sit still long enough in the classroom to make any teacher want to defend me.

But Mrs. Carter liked me, though I don't know why. The way she looked at me - like I had something worth watching for - made up for the fact that I was always the understudy when we were picked for the school play, always the alternate for work with the poet in residence. I learned to rise to the occasion, and to focus on doing things well, instead of doing things best; I gained confidence in my abilities. And though after that year, I turned back into the goofball for a good long time, I never forgot Mrs. Carter. And I never forgot that look.

It's a well-kept secret in educational circles that it isn't just the good kids, or the smart kids who get voted "most likely to be a teacher", who come back to school to sit on the other side of the desk (or in my case, to stand atop the desk and gesticulate wildly to make a point). We come from all the cliques, from the woodshop wannabes to the cheerleading squad, from the lit mag proto-hipsters to the band geeks. But I can't think of any teacher I have ever spoken with who is not honored and thrilled and genuinely surprised when that rare student comes out of the woodwork to say "you mattered, and now I matter."

A few years back, at a five year reunion, this kid came up to me, and thanked me. He said I was the one who changed his life; that now he was doing what I had taught him to do, and hardly a week went by where he didn't think about what I had taught him.

And I looked at him, and smiled, and was secretly joyous. But all I could think about was that this kid was the goofball. The one who was always pushing the envelope. The one who messed around in film class, though he always came through with something pretty cool when the work was due. The one who spliced thirty second of a shower scene from a Penthouse video into his remade music video for Van Halen's Hot For Teacher. And showed it on the day the Academic Dean came to observe me in my first year of teaching.

And then I remembered Mrs. Carter. And I thought about calling her up, and thanking her. But Mrs. Carter isn't around anymore.

If Jeffrey Foucault was a teacher, he'd look like thisThere are surprisingly few songs about the teaching profession which portray it in a positive light (though there are a couple of other memorable songs out there about teachers as sex objects, such as Police classic Don't Stand So Close To Me and Rufus Wainwright's The Art Teacher); of these, fewer still have been covered by folk artists. More common are songs about school as a part of adolescent or childhood experience -- songs where the teachers are there, unmentioned, just hovering in the background. But as a teacher myself, I know that no classroom feels safe unless the teacher has set a tone that makes it safe. Even without mention, as long as curriculum and classroom exist, a teacher is always there.

Today, then, in celebration of National Teacher Appreciation Week (USA), we bring you a set of quirky covers of teachersongs, and some schoolsongs which touch lightly and broadly on our experience of the classroom, that childhood stew of fear and freedom where our personalities were transformed.

Together, the songs make a perfect soundtrack to a google search for that one special teacher who reached out and changed your life. Write the letter, send the email, make the call: let them know they made a difference today. You don't even have to say thanks -- just letting them know that you remember them, and that you turned out okay, is a rare and precious reward.




See also: Kate and Anna McGarrigle cover Loudon Wainwright III's Schooldays

14 comments:

Owyn said...

Have a great week Joshua.

You may have run into Taylor Mali before, but, JIC here are some presents from my favourite poet-teacher, heck just a great poet / person ...

Taylor Mali
http://www.taylormali.com/

What Teachers Make
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxsOVK4syxU

Like Lily Like Wilson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tshNfYWPlDg

Anonymous said...

Great post -- I love Gender Bender White Stripes covers.

Hoss said...

I've never left a comment on your blog before, but your post moved me to do so. I am also a middle school teacher, teaching special ed, and was that "goofball" growing up as well. I went around the bend a couple of times in my life, yet now I find myself working long days trying to make even the smallest difference in my students' lives.

Guess I just wanted to say 'thank you' for your post, it made a rather hectic day a little brighter.

Anonymous said...

"As a teacher myself, I know that no classroom feels safe unless the teacher has set a tone that makes it safe."

<-- I just thought this bit was very touching, and so true.

Thank you for the songs! It's so hard to find music nowadays that is just folk, not overproduced stuff, but your blog is the jackpot for it! You have great taste in music!

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to say thank you for sharing your story (along with the music you share regularly). I know that two of the biggest things that brought me to teaching were trying to fix the frustrations that made me nearly drop out and teachers who really did make a difference and kept me from doing it.

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