Teach & Serve V, No. 6
Engage the Real World
September 11, 2019
To do less than engage with the world around our students is to shirk our roles as educators. It is to do them a massive disservice.
I was on my way to school 18 years ago this morning, listening to local Denver sports talk radio with intense interest. It was a Tuesday morning and I know this because I had been at a Denver Broncos Monday Night Football game the evening before this commute. I was tired and I was worried. I was worried because Ed McCaffrey, a star receiver for the Broncos, had been injured in the game the night before and I was anxious for news.
I received news. We all did. It was not the news any of us were expecting.
In the car in front of me was a colleague I did not know well. He looked back in his rear view mirror and we made eye contact. Simultaneously we both made a “what the hell is going on?” gesture.
News of the first plane striking the first tower was unrolling.
By the time I got to school, the second plane had hit the second tower.
We were supposed to teach this day?
Stunned, shocked and shaken, I made my way to my English IV Seminar. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I wasn’t sure what was the right thing to do. Should I go ahead with my lesson plan? Should I turn on the television in the classroom? Should I ignore the event?
In the back of the room, a student made the decision for me. He was holding up a handwritten sign that said “WAR!”.
I lost that “it” we say we lose.
That is not a moment I look back on with any fondness.
While the sign was the impetus for what became an affecting conversation about morals and responsibilities and prayer, it started in a very, very bad place. Grace had led us to a good conclusion.
I learned that day a lesson that has shaped the rest of my career.
As educators, we have a responsibility to be in the real world. We have a responsibility to root our lessons there. We have a responsibility to help our students engage. We have a responsibility to provide help, assistance and context. Students do not need us to tell them how to view the world, they need us to tell them they should, in fact, develop the skills and lenses through which to view it.
To do less than engage with the world around our students is to shirk our roles as educators. It is to do them a massive disservice. If we are uncomfortable with this, we are in the wrong profession.
Never Forget