Macomb, 2008..Final comments
They’ve asked me to make a few final comments… I’ve considered the following… “The golf course is open! Let’s go!” or…. “No school Monday!” or…. “Close your eyes a moment, forget your 401 K and think of teacher’s retirement.”
Instead…let me tell you a final story…about my bean. Mrs. Walker had us plant a bean, put it in a cup and place it on the windowsill …we put our name on each cup. I couldn’t believe that on the second day nothing had happened. Not even on the third. I didn’t know for sure but I’d heard that my friend Darold was peeing in my cup during lunch hour. Every morning we’d rush past the playground and go right to the bean cups. We had a bean ceremony every morning. After the pledge of allegiance we’d hold hands, face our row of beans and shout, “Wake up little bean! Time to grow!” We even named our beans. Mine was Fred after Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy. And here’s the strange part: Mrs. Walker told us practically nothing about beans. Or as we used to say in Pike County, she didn’t tell us beans about beans. She told us how deep to plant them and when to water them. That was it. But every member of the 1st grade class of Perry Grade School, 1954 knew everything about beans. We couldn’t help it! We just couldn’t stand to have a bean …our bean..growing just six feet from our desk and not wonder what was happening. My information came from a very ancient set of The People’s Encyclopedia. I told all my friends. My friend Roberta was lucky. Her uncle worked for the Extension service and he told her all about beans and she blabbed it all over the lunch table. Gary’s dad worked for Pioneer so he already knew. But everybody found out how a bean grew. I made a quick mental count this week and figured that I have taken 15 science courses since first grade. I have no idea what happened in any of them. But by golly, I know how a bean grows. The U of I recently hosted a group of Japanese businessmen to Central Illinois. Part of their tour was near my home in Arenzville and I was asked to join the tour. I told Japanese how a bean grew. I recently asked an elementary teacher if they still grow beans in 1st grade. They didn’t. It’s not a part of the state plan until 3rd grade. The kids have to go two whole years without knowing how a bean grows. I asked her if they did like Mrs. Walker and just planted it..then talked to it every morning. She laughed. No, the bean planting is now goal-specific. I’m not making this up. And they’re tested on it… and they have a practice test. I’ll bet the kids hate their damned beans.
Like many of you, I’ve lived and taught through DLO’s, PLO’s, SIP’s, STP’s, BVD’s and the various SOB’s who’ve managed to take a heck of a lot of our time without making a heck of a lot of difference. I know that with the next administration will come a new and improved mandated plan. You didn’t design the outrage of testing that we must all suffer, but you are still in charge. Please…PLEASE keep in mind that teaching is still an ART, and not a science. There is no one great and perfect way to teach. It’s an art…it’s a painting…it’s a piece of music composed by your individual personality. Give the tests. Prepare for the tests, but remember that it’s the ART you bring to teaching that inspires kids to learn. I should add that my bean died. I killed it. Every time Mrs. Walker would leave the room I’d run to the window, take my finger and dig out my bean to see how it was doing. It died from testing.
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