Letter from a Teacher - Need for Transparency

Good Morning Editor,

Excellent article in Sunday's paper by Sharon Noguchi on problem teachers.

I'm a "second career" teacher after having served as a Navy pilot, currently teaching 4th grade in Los Altos.  Teaching has been a tough job but presents a lot fewer risks than landing on a pitching / rolling deck at night in the middle of the ocean.

I've always been of the opinion that my classroom is open.  The principal or parents are welcome anytime - they never need an appointment.  There is nothing I do in my classroom that is ever "hidden" from public view.  Want to learn about H.A.W. Tabor and Chicken Bill?  How about Charles C. Fremont and how his ranch was stolen but it resulted in his becoming California's first Senator and stupendously rich?  How about the fact that the only reason we're not part of Mexico today is that John Sutter and James Marshall kept their mouths shut until the Treaty of Gualalupe Hidalgo was signed?  Come on down.

We learn multiplication but in such a way that we're given the "Keys to Quadratic Factorization."  We study art but also use it to write stories about going fishing with Winslow Homer or trekking with Hieronymus Bosch.  If we use a video it's never more than 8 to 10 minutes and ties directly into the lesson we're teaching.

What I do is public.  I'm standing in front of 20 to 30 people (4th graders though they may be) and presenting materials, guiding activities, helping them learn to work together, maintaining classroom discipline (mostly), and hopefully inspiring students.  

The last thing I teach is the most important - inspiring.  What did you learn the most about?  It's something you WANTED to learn about.  Inspire a student and then get out of their way.  They'll learn more than you could ever teach them, all on their own.

I consider that duty my most important.  Every single human has a specialty.  As a teacher it's my job to help them find it and point them in the right direction.  

The rest of teaching is an overview of data - learning something about many things and, most important, learning how to "go and find out."  The motto of our classroom comes from Rudyard Kipling's story, Rikki Tikki Tavi.  "The motto of the mongoose is 'Go and Find Out.'"   That's the motto of Room 9 at Gardner Bullis School, where I am very proud to help young men and women learn a little more about the world and how they fit into it.

ciao and best

jim

James Thurber 

4th Grade - Room 9

Gardner Bullis School

Los Altos School District