Remember Me?
I recently saw two former students under two very different circumstances. One was a guest for Teach-In in a math class down the hall from me. The other was in the parking lot before the Jimmy Buffet Hurricane Relief Concert. They both, however, were in my classes when I taught at Oak Ridge High School. I left that school in 1992, so they have changed considerably. I last saw them as 17- or 18-year-olds and now they're young 30-somethings.
I was flattered that they remembered me and pleased that they said they enjoyed my classes. While I recognized their names, I have to admit that I don't really remember either of them very well and would not have recognized them as former students. I estimate that I've had over 3,000 students in my classes and worked less directly with several thousand more. I can't remember them all. I'm sorry.
Anyway, one of those students worked as a drafter and is now in real estate. The other is a mechanical engineer who works with NASA. I may be no rocket scientist, but I have taught at least one future rocket scientist in my life.
These two recent encounters are not the first time I have seen former students, of course, but seeing two from over a dozen years ago within a few days of each other is a bit novel. I've seen former students just about everywhere from the mall to the grocery store to my eye doctor's office to... well, to the parking lot before a Jimmy Buffet concert. One of the School Resource Officers at our school now is also a former student of mine. I remember him a little better because a good friend of mine was one of his middle school teachers. I have not yet had a student that is the child of a former student. Since I've been in the same county (though not at the same school) for 20 years now, it's a real possibility.
Most of the time, I don't know what happens to my students for more than a few years at most after they are in my class. Of course I care what happens to them, but as I've moved from school to school and their numbers grow it gets more and more difficult to keep track of them. I have come to accept that I will never know how much of their future I influence. I believe that I have some positive affect on them or I probably wouldn't continue teaching. I wish I had gone back to more of my teachers after I got into this business to let them know how much I appreciate what they did for me. I encourage you to find your old teachers to thank them, but please understand if we don't remember you as well as you remember us.
I was flattered that they remembered me and pleased that they said they enjoyed my classes. While I recognized their names, I have to admit that I don't really remember either of them very well and would not have recognized them as former students. I estimate that I've had over 3,000 students in my classes and worked less directly with several thousand more. I can't remember them all. I'm sorry.
Anyway, one of those students worked as a drafter and is now in real estate. The other is a mechanical engineer who works with NASA. I may be no rocket scientist, but I have taught at least one future rocket scientist in my life.
These two recent encounters are not the first time I have seen former students, of course, but seeing two from over a dozen years ago within a few days of each other is a bit novel. I've seen former students just about everywhere from the mall to the grocery store to my eye doctor's office to... well, to the parking lot before a Jimmy Buffet concert. One of the School Resource Officers at our school now is also a former student of mine. I remember him a little better because a good friend of mine was one of his middle school teachers. I have not yet had a student that is the child of a former student. Since I've been in the same county (though not at the same school) for 20 years now, it's a real possibility.
Most of the time, I don't know what happens to my students for more than a few years at most after they are in my class. Of course I care what happens to them, but as I've moved from school to school and their numbers grow it gets more and more difficult to keep track of them. I have come to accept that I will never know how much of their future I influence. I believe that I have some positive affect on them or I probably wouldn't continue teaching. I wish I had gone back to more of my teachers after I got into this business to let them know how much I appreciate what they did for me. I encourage you to find your old teachers to thank them, but please understand if we don't remember you as well as you remember us.
1 Comments:
Tim, thank you for your words of wisdom. It is 2:30am on a Sunday morning, I have a masters research paper and final due, "yesterday", and I am trying to get it finished. I can relate to the things you have to say on your site because I have been teaching for seven and one half years now. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Ted Weiberg, Richardson North Junior High, Richardson, Texas. ted.weiberg@risd.org
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