Be The Crazy Teacher

Going into my Senior year in high school, I was already strategizing my senioritis. My best friend and I were trying to avoid Mrs. Sbolci, a notoriously tough Honors English 4 teacher. We wanted none of that, so we signed up for standard level and figured we would coast to an easy A. Of course, they didn't give Mrs. Sbolci Honors English 4 that year and on the second day of school, my coach saw me sitting in what he knew was the wrong classroom and had my schedule changed to the honors section. Instead of Mrs. Sbolci, I had Mrs. Peggy Nelson and I cannot begin to tell (nor would you even believe) all of the stories that came from that class my Senior year. 

Mrs. Nelson was just before retirement and to a class of 18-year-olds, we all thought she was a little crazy. She had stories of talking to the squirrels in her backyard, hilarious lessons on the Canterbury Tales with our class "pilgrimage" and all kinds of conversations that we thought were off-topic at the time, but taught us a lot of life lessons later. That year, we took a Senior trip to London and Paris, and somehow I became her baggage carrier throughout the trip. Mrs. Nelson was a tiny woman and I guess she knew I wouldn't say no. She gave me a shirt as a graduation gift for helping her out. It was nicer than most of the gifts my friends or family gave me. 

Even with my current education and hindsight, I can't tell you that a lot of what we did in Mrs. Nelson's class related to certain standards, but we did have some deep conversations. Those conversations helped shape the minds of a group of young adults that all thought we were the smartest one in the room at some point. We learned to argue with evidence and to make our point without raising our voices. And we laughed a lot. This week I learned that Mrs. Nelson passed away when a classmate sent me her obituary. My memories of her instantly brought a smile to my face. She was the crazy little woman that probably tricked us all into learning to be better adults. 

We spend a lot of time on standards, assessments, and all other tricks of pedagogy and I promise they are VERY important. But every now and then, if we do it right, we get to be the crazy teacher. The one that maybe overshares a little too much or gets too into the lesson or stops a lesson to teach a life lesson. When
the moment is right, don't be afraid to be the crazy teacher. Those are the memorable ones.