What makes a teacher successful?

The less the kids pay attention, the more angry I used to get. When I care, I get upset when it doesn’t sink in or they don’t even try. Instead, I try not to really care anymore. When the students don’t seem to be trying, I try to be real with them - “I’m not upset, I fear for you. What are you going to do when you finish school in four months, if you even do graduate? What are you going to do with your life? You’re 20 years old and your lying to your teacher about doing work you clearly have not done. If you don’t try now, you’re gonna have hell to pay my brotha.”

“Teacher, don’t get upset, I’ve done the work.”

“You’re missing the point. First, you’re lying to me. You haven’t done the work. I can see this. And second, I don’t care anymore, so stop trying to convince me bro. I’m trying to teach you to try. You’re the one who will suffer a few years from now, not me. Please try, out of respect of my time. If you choose not to, I ask at the very least for you to stop lying to me.”

“Teacher, calm down.”

I took a deep breath and smiled. Like I said, I didn’t really care anymore. I did my part. I’ve shown up, ready to answer questions and made a good lesson plan - applied theory to something practical, something that can affect their future. They can complain about being poor or not having a pencil, but they’re running out of excuses. Soon, for them to fail at all, will be clearly their own fault. I think they know this and are beginning to either feel the tremors or get excited.

It’s the lazy people who will fail when application meets the theory. They will defend themselves and tear apart the people who try. Because they’ve been living a façade of adequacy, not ever realizing what it feels like to challenge themselves and achieve, they’ll figure out they are the ones who have the longest road to travel. With all of the conveniences we’ve developed in life, it’s easy to forget what it is we’re supposed to do. I look forward to watching my students experience what it feels like to do something on their own.