What Makes Teachers Memorable: The Process

It’s the beginning of the semester and I arrive to teach my Foundations of Teaching as a Profession course as an Adjunct Faculty/Professor. After pulling into the parking lot of California State University at San Marcos, and upon entering my classroom, students are already in the in their seats anxious to start our journey. Each year is a new experience and revisions that are made to the class are based on the past semester evaluations from students. There have been so many changes to customize the needs of my students since the initial assignment to teach in 1997. I look forward to impacting that first class of new aspiring educators who are eager to enter the educational profession that I have served as a principal for 31 years. This class is a prerequisite for all teacher candidates at all universities in the state of California, and is a mandated course they must take prior to entering their graduate studies in order to obtain a teaching credential.

After the preliminary, obligatory, clerical exercises are completed, students are asked to clear their desks and take out one piece of paper.

“Close your eyes and picture your most favorite-"est" teacher and the year that you have come across them in your school experience of life.”

Some may have difficulty drawing that picture of their favorite year or setting, so I let them off the hook and ask them to conjure up the recollection of their "best-worst" year they had, and think of all the words that describe their most memorable teacher and/or the class. I want to hear their unabashed recollection of their “most favorite-est” teacher in their life. They all want to become a teacher. One of their past encounters as a student in school with a teacher may very well have been the reason they are sitting in my class.

I prompt them by describing their experience as a student; rising from a good night's sleep, at their home and readying themselves for another great start of a day at school. They eat a good breakfast and head off, either being driven by their parent or walking/riding to school. Once they enter the school they should see themselves walking into that classroom and describe what they recall or remember. Try to conjure up the facts of that day; who the teacher was, what were the kids like in the room, what the walls and boards looked like, a greeting given by their memorable role model of a teacher, characteristics/traits of that teacher and the feeling of  entering the room, some of the experiences they had been fortunate to perform, and the anticipation of the events ready to unfold.

Now they open their eyes and write a down a list of the characteristics that made that class and teacher memorable. They take their pens and make a list on a single paper and try to come up with at least 10-15 thoughts.

Many things go into the day of the teacher. As they examine the list of characteristics, students are asked to compare their lists in groups of 4-7 students (depending on the size of the class). Each student in the group reads their memorable characteristics and the others check their list. If another student has that characteristic they circle the characteristic. Each student in turn reads their list. While reading another student creates a master list that is developed from the duplicated responses for each group. A characteristic is only accepted if another student has a duplicate trait shared from their life. A representative of the group writes their list on the board. Invariably, the four lists from each group have duplicates and any repeating characteristic. Each duplicate is erased from the items listed on the board. Once the repeaters are eliminated then the list remaining is the total of all items from the class that shows the non-repetitive memorable characteristics for the class, and in turn, is added to the running total that was begun in 1997.

In 2000, we started collecting the data from this exercise on their first night penning their initial impressions as candidates upon entering my class and the School of Education program. This is a basis for the attitude/traits I want to develop in all educator candidates. They are encouraged to replicate these traits in their preparation as a student in the School of Education for my classroom. 

Each week we will share what the students have thought that are Traits of What Makes a Teacher Memorable. Stay Tuned! More to come.

Stephen Ahle Principal
Educator
2006 National Distinguished Principal
National Association of Elementary School Principals