It’s Teacher Appreciation Week at our school (which maybe should just be every week?!). Feel free to crib this and send it to a teacher you are grateful for. Dear Teacher, Thank you for your magical ability to quiet a group of squirming, yelping children with one little ditty.
Sorry, I meant to write that the Barnard protest happened in May, 1970. I should also have noted that Courtney’s brilliant research paper was a model of investigative reporting that in some respects prefigured her magnificent publications ever since. Now I realize how much I have to celebrate this week as I reflect on the students who gave me innumerable great memories and rewards. Thank you!
Dear Courtney, thanks so much for this deeply moving tribute to teachers. As a college and high school teacher for 60 years, I celebrate this week by appreciating my students, you, of course, being among the most outstanding at Barnard.
The first time that I realized the absolute indispensability of my students came in early May, after Nixon directed that the U.S. invade Cambodia to allegedly strengthen the military position in Vietnam. Barnard and Columbia students protested in the streets and also by boycotting their classes. I was entirely in sympathy with the students' cause, yet I felt an obligation to give lectures anyway. These happen to constitute a series on Gandhi's ideas and leadership, my favorite part of the Political Movements and Political Theory classes, so I usually brought to them a natural passion. I also felt that they were particularly relevant to the war.
When I showed up in each class, there were no students. So I recorded each lecture to enable the protesters to hear them later. What surprised me most was that speaking to an empty auditorium drained all of the emotion or passionate force from my presentations. From this, I learned that the chemistry between teacher and students was vital. Speaking to no one, I sounded dull and hollow.
Later proof of this came when Courtney Martin's face in the class acted as kind of barometer of how far I'd reached students. Once, I gave a included in my lecture an appeal that the Barnard community must not remain silent when an epidemic of student suicides tragically struck us. Courtney told me later that she left that class with her "brain on fire" and undertook a special research project interviewing and assessing the causes for such calamities. As I reflect on my career, her subsequent presentation to students, faculty and administration, demanding that we address the causes of student suicides, remains a stellar moment. I commemorate it now as I appreciate the bonds that remain between teacher and students, past and present. This is a reason why I eagerly look forward to each of her Newsletters and the invitation to post comments. Gratefully, DD
Thank you, Courtney! As a lifelong educator nearing retirement, your words soothe my soul and I feel appreciated. I love what I do but it has been so challenging these past two years that my tears washed my face as I read this, and yet felt comforted. Thank you!
As a teacher, I feel seen and appreciated. Thank you.
So good! I want this to go all over the internet!
Amen to every word of this. Forwarding to my kid's principal and teacher. Thank you.
Sorry, I meant to write that the Barnard protest happened in May, 1970. I should also have noted that Courtney’s brilliant research paper was a model of investigative reporting that in some respects prefigured her magnificent publications ever since. Now I realize how much I have to celebrate this week as I reflect on the students who gave me innumerable great memories and rewards. Thank you!
D.D.
Dear Courtney, thanks so much for this deeply moving tribute to teachers. As a college and high school teacher for 60 years, I celebrate this week by appreciating my students, you, of course, being among the most outstanding at Barnard.
The first time that I realized the absolute indispensability of my students came in early May, after Nixon directed that the U.S. invade Cambodia to allegedly strengthen the military position in Vietnam. Barnard and Columbia students protested in the streets and also by boycotting their classes. I was entirely in sympathy with the students' cause, yet I felt an obligation to give lectures anyway. These happen to constitute a series on Gandhi's ideas and leadership, my favorite part of the Political Movements and Political Theory classes, so I usually brought to them a natural passion. I also felt that they were particularly relevant to the war.
When I showed up in each class, there were no students. So I recorded each lecture to enable the protesters to hear them later. What surprised me most was that speaking to an empty auditorium drained all of the emotion or passionate force from my presentations. From this, I learned that the chemistry between teacher and students was vital. Speaking to no one, I sounded dull and hollow.
Later proof of this came when Courtney Martin's face in the class acted as kind of barometer of how far I'd reached students. Once, I gave a included in my lecture an appeal that the Barnard community must not remain silent when an epidemic of student suicides tragically struck us. Courtney told me later that she left that class with her "brain on fire" and undertook a special research project interviewing and assessing the causes for such calamities. As I reflect on my career, her subsequent presentation to students, faculty and administration, demanding that we address the causes of student suicides, remains a stellar moment. I commemorate it now as I appreciate the bonds that remain between teacher and students, past and present. This is a reason why I eagerly look forward to each of her Newsletters and the invitation to post comments. Gratefully, DD
Thank you, Courtney! As a lifelong educator nearing retirement, your words soothe my soul and I feel appreciated. I love what I do but it has been so challenging these past two years that my tears washed my face as I read this, and yet felt comforted. Thank you!