Here are some pics of the evening:
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| Helen and Warren Garner, benefactors of the award |
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| My award |
"Thank you for those kind words. I would like to thank you
for this award. I am truly honored to be
recognized by the very institution to which I credit most of my success. So thank you again for presenting me with
this award.
You know, Dr. Schilling’s timing for asking me to present a
short speech was uncanny. I happened to
be right in the middle of teaching a speech unit to my 6th
graders. For a brief moment, I freaked
out and said, 'What in the world do I know about writing a speech?' I quickly realized that I better know
something about because I was teaching it to 6th graders. Everything I teach has real world application
to it so when I was able to bring this news back and share it with them, they
were very excited. Throughout our unit,
we studied all different types of speeches, from presidential addresses to my
very own husband’s best man speech. It
was great to show them how speeches are everywhere, including their own teacher
giving one. Of course the questions came
rapid fire from them, 'Are you going to begin your speech like Barack
Obama? How will you identify you
audience? Be sure you use strong voice
and 2nd person!' I laughed as
they put some of my own teaching right back on me. Unfortunately, I committed the ultimate no-no
and had to confess to my students. I
emailed Dr. Schilling and asked her how long the speech had to be. Those are bad words in my class. I never want my students to worry about
length in their compositions because then they give a lot of fluff writing and
the important words and messages get lost within it. As I got her answer to the length, I
immediately regretted asking and understood why I hold so true to that rule in
my classroom. So, I have no idea how
long this is but I assure you, there is no fluff.
When I was in 2nd grade, I decided I wanted to be
a teacher. I would like to be able to
tell you a story about this decision being made because of an amazing teacher
that really touched my life. However,
that wasn’t the case my second grade year.
In fact, it was quite the contrary.
I have two very distinct memories of second grade. The first was during spelling; our teacher
would have students take turns writing spelling words on the board from our
pretest; words that none of us knew because we didn’t have time to practice
them. I clearly remember asking her before I approached the board if my word
was spelled correctly. She hissed for me
to just write the word on the board. Of
course, it wasn’t and she proceeded to publicly ridicule me because I spelled
the word ‘whistle’ wrong on the chalkboard.
The only other memory I have of second grade involved being
grouped by ability for reading instruction.
During my reading group, the only instructional practice was to have
round robin reading. I would diligently
count the number of people until it was my turn, then frantically count to see
what paragraph I would be expected to read aloud. I remember reading my paragraph and decoding
all of the hard words before it was my turn. On this day, I finished decoding
my own paragraph early while one of my peers was still reading. I will never forget the exchange between the
teacher and assistant as my classmate struggled with a word. “Look at the word she’s stuck on,” said the
assistant. “T-H-E. Maybe we need to move her down a group or
two.” Those negative memories outweighed
anything positive that may have happened that year. Unfortunately, it was more moments like those
that led me in my charge to be a teacher.
In middle school, my passion for wanting to be a teacher
grew and I began to think about my career track for high school. I was fortunate enough to join a four-year
teaching academy at my high school.
Through the academy I began observing teachers, planning, and teaching
lessons. I began to hold onto the practices of those teachers that I shared a similar
philosophy with and that I knew had undeniable conviction and passion for
education. At 15, 16, and 17 years old,
I found myself thinking a lot about what made them great teachers. And in the same way I didn’t want to discount
my other experiences because they also were just as valuable. Each experience teaching me something about
the kind of teacher I wanted to be and the kind of teacher I didn’t want to
be. Now, reflecting back, I know exactly
what made all the difference in the two types of teachers. Passion for teaching.
As I began the exhausting search for a college, the only
option for me was one that held the same beliefs of care, conviction, learning,
and service that I, myself, believed in.
The only option was one that had a faculty as devoted to and passionate
about education as me. The only option
was Manchester College. As my friends
all chose to stick together and attend large universities, I chose the road
less traveled; a place where I knew no one, and a place where no one knew
me. When I received my acceptance letter
to Manchester, it was met with much excitement and a hint of hesitation from my
parents as they looked at the looming financial costs that would undoubtedly
ensue. I assured them that this college,
this institution, could offer me something none other could. I was right.
The one major piece that puts Manchester above other
institutions is field experience.
Believe it or not, most education students don’t actually get into real
classrooms until their junior or senior year of college with one entire
semester of student teaching being team-taught and not truly being on their
own. Only eight short weeks of their time is on their own before they step into
the world. By the time I graduated at
Manchester, I had a total of eight years of experience in classrooms; four
years in high school and four years in college where I was doing the work in
real, everyday classrooms with actual children.
That’s a far cry from just eight weeks at other institutions. You have been so fortunate to have the field
experiences that the education department here has offered to you. However, it’s what you do with those
experiences that make the difference between them being meaningful or just
another requirement you had to fulfill.
You may have walked out of a classroom and you loved what was
happening. You’ve had opportunities to
see amazing lessons, meaningful interactions with students, great techniques
for writing conferences, positive reinforcement, and much more. In contrast, I’m sure you all had experiences
where you saw things you wouldn’t want to do in your own classroom or practices
that might not work for you personally as a teacher. The most important thing you can do with
those experiences is…reflect on them.
It’s not enough to just sit back and watch something great happen or
watch something fall apart. Teaching is
when you are able to take something that you saw, reflect on how it will work
for you, and then, do it. The ability to
reflect on your own practices is something that is fundamentally necessary in
education. Unfortunately, not everyone
knows that. Luckily, the education
faculty here at Manchester knows that.
When you tirelessly wrote all of those reflections about your field
experiences and your student teaching, it wasn’t just because they wanted to
give you busy work. It was because they
were building sound habits of what great teachers do.
I wholeheartedly believe that Manchester education graduates
are among the best of the best. Use the
knowledge that you walk out of here with to your advantage. You have some of the most experience when put
up against other institutions. And that
experience is gold. You have had time to try different teaching styles and have
had opportunities to watch and model superior teachers. Through this, you have been able to build
your own philosophy of teaching. When I
was a student at Manchester, I remember writing my philosophy of teaching. Something I thought at the time wasn’t
important. However, it is something that
guides my teaching everyday. I highly
suggest that you have a sound idea of what your philosophy of teaching is and
why. In recent mock interviews I was a
part of with our student teachers, it was important to me to hear and
understand their philosophy of teaching.
It was important for me to know what they stood for as an educator and
if their mission matched mine. That was
important for me to see if they would be compatible in our building. It showed me what they thought about the
bigger picture of education. The ones
that had a sound philosophy portrayed themselves as someone who had a deeper understanding
of education both through theories and actual practical use of how they use
those theories in their classroom.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have several student teachers
over the past few years. I can teach you just about anything you need to
know. I can give you a wide range of
experiences and build your field knowledge to add onto the theories and
concepts taught in your college classrooms.
However, there is one thing you must learn on your own; how to teach
with passion. Because no matter how many
times you watch someone teach with passion, you can replicate their words but
you cannot replicate their passion. That
has to be your own and it has to be within you. When you watch a great teacher, a truly
amazing teacher, you can see the passion they have for teaching ooze out of
every fiber of their being. Passion is
what sets a good teacher apart from an absolutely inspirational teacher. When your passion is undeniable, your
teaching is infectious. Your students
will naturally share the same passion and excitement for learning that you
demonstrate to them. In the 2010
documentary, “Waiting for Superman” it is stated that good teachers get through
150% of the curriculum in one school year.
This seemingly impossible task is easy when you build your students
passion right along with your own. The
learning process becomes theirs and the products they create are
meaningful.
I would like to share an excerpt from a letter that my most
recent student teacher sent me. She sums
it up perfectly when she says,
“You were born to be a teacher, Mrs.
Pfeiffer. Being a good teacher requires
strength in character, wisdom and knowledge from experience, and a desire to
learn and keep learning from others and the world around them. You encapsulate everything it means to be a
good teacher. And what’s even more
wonderful is that your students see all of that in you. They respect you and care about you, not only
because you show them that school can be meaningful and fun, but also because
you show them respect, you challenge them, you show them that it’s important to
challenge others, and you show them how important it is to think for
themselves. The majority of your
students probably have never had a model like that in their lives. But you have become that figure for
them. And I know from the time I’ve had
to speak with them, that they see you as a really important figure in their
lives. They see you as a strong
individual who cares about them, respects them, and expects the best out of
them. As difficult as it can be
sometimes for them to show you how much that matters to them, I know it does
because they don’t show that kind of respect for anyone else.”
She goes on to
say,
“I was always so nervous and intimidated to
come to school and teach these kids because I knew I had pretty big shoes to
fill. But I was also really intimidated
and nervous because…teaching is hard. It
feels like you’re on stage all the time and you have to take the role of
someone who impacts these students on a daily basis-it’s so much pressure. It’s such an important job and not just
anyone is capable of handling it well.
You’re the first teacher I’ve met who has truly challenged their
students, who has truly accomplished the seemingly impossible task of creating
a learning environment that is meaningful, purposeful, respectful and
challenging.”
Don’t let your students wait on superman because that
fictional character will never come for them.
You have to be the one to scoop them up, save them, and show them that
education is the way to their future. I
would like to wish you all the best as you begin to navigate your way through
your first year of teaching. Welcome to
the stage where you will be the spotlight performer every single day.
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