I was cleaning up some old papers yesterday and came across this card from a former student. Just reading it made me smile.
The student who wrote this got interested in teaching when I asked her to tutor a young algebra student I met in the library. She worked with this girl all year and it was rewarding for both. The girl did well and this student ended up going to college to become a teacher. She is currently teaching math in a middle school in Westchester.
I hope the school she is teaching in is one like the one I taught in when she was in my class. I hope it is a school that allows and encourages nurturing, where emphasis is on teaching, not test scores. I hope it is not a school where the AP insists on idiotic methods like left hand, right hand raising and writes insane memos to the staff. I hope it is not a school where the teacher is always wrong unless that teacher is one of the AP's chosen ones.
I hope I really was as good as her words say but I have my doubts. I know if the administrators in the school she works in permit it, she will be the teacher she describes.

