From The English Journal, September 1987
Memo to Student Teachers
By Joseph Lazarski
With a college that specializes in teacher education located nearby, I frequently work with student teachers. Year after year, I have observed eager prospective English teachers learn the same painful lessons about the realities of the classroom. The thought occurred to me one day that I should write down these basic truths of the classroom and hand them to each student teacher at the beginning of the semester. That was I might spare myself the anguish of watching the fattened fledglings devoured by the hungry masses. The same thought may occur to other English teachers in similar situations. Perhaps this list will save someone the trouble.
Chances are the next Hemingway is not sitting in your classroom right now. Plan your lessons accordingly.
Not every student likes English.
Not every student hates English.
A person learns by doing. No great baseball player ever realized his true potential until he put a bat in his hands. A student writer has a similar relationship with his pen.
Spelling does count.
Telling a student that his paper is boing is a surefire way to get him to hate writing permanently.
If a student is trying to work, don't stop him.
Students rarely make grammatical mistakes just to irritate the teacher.
Be punctual.
Don't dress, act, talk, or look like a student.
English teachers are usually the most normal adults in a school. Try to uphold the tradition.
When a student asks a good question, give a good answer.
A good answer is a succinct answer.
Be organized when giving a lesson on outlining.
¨Alot¨ is not an English word.
Listen carefully.
More teachers are not millionaires than are.
Lazy people do not become English teachers.
The inability to punctuate is not as potentially dangerous as the inability to swim.
Don't be afraid to be seen using a dictionary.
To show a class how to write an essay, write an essay.
Some students can be trusted, and some students cannot.
Research reports are not fun to grade.
Force yourself to speak without saying ¨Ya know¨ frequently.
Write legibly.
Teaching and lecturing are not synonymous.
Once in awhile, students will neglect to read all of the comments you so thoughtfully wrote on their papers.
When giving a vocabulary lesson, know what the words mean.
Don't take yourself too seriously; don't take your students too lightly.
If a lesson doesn't work, either fix it or throw it away.
The better your students write, the more they'll write. The more they write, the more you'll have to read and grade. Consider this before you become an English teacher.
Try to make students think.
The seasons aren't capitalized.
If you don't know an answer, say, ¨I don't know, but I'll look it up.¨ Then look it up.
Since the majority of your students will be human, don't get emotional when one of them makes a mistake.
Be strict. Don't be mean.
Read frequently.
Don't assign compositions that pry into students personal lives.
If students don't know how to write a bibliography, teach them.
Never ¨lose¨ more than one pile of papers per class per semester.
In any given class, there's always a chance that one or two students weren't listening to your directions. Plan to repeat yourself.
Be honest but positive in the criticism you write on students papers.
Students want law and order in a classroom.
The loudest teacher is not necessarily the best teacher.
Most of English class should be devoted to English.
Read to a class once in a while. Even high school seniors enjoy hearing a well-read story.
A good English teacher is far too busy to find time to complain.
Roll up your sleeves before correcting a pile of essays.
Don't try to teach a college course to junior or senior high school students.
The younger students are, the more likely they are to let you know that youve made a mistake.
Papers should be graded promptly.
Faulkner, James, and Hawthorne are not the only ones who had something good to say.
A student who does not write well is not necessarily a criminal.
Most students find classroom games foolish.
When all else fails, rely on common sense.
EJ SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO
What Every New Teacher Needs - Faith, Hope, and a Good Reading List
There are four fundamental elements of success in the teaching of English, as of any other subject: faith in yourself, faith in your pupils, faith in your subject, and faith in your profession.
***
The beginning teacher can get in touch with the professional side of the work in several ways. First, read the standard books, like James’s Talks to Teachers, Dewey’s How We Think, and those in your special field, like Chubb’s The Teaching of English, and Baker, Carpenter, and Scott’s English in the Schools. Then follow current periodicals: especially the new English Journal and the leaflets of your state English Teachers’ Association. Visit classes of teachers of reputation, methodically, always asking, What is this recitation trying to accomplish? Is it succeeding or failing? What are the elements of its success or failure?-and recording your answer. Keep similar notes on your own recitations. Put your best thought into the assignment of advance lessons, and know beforehand what you are going to assign, and for what reason. Be ready to co-operate with other teachers in any well-planned experiment, particularly one the results of which can be measured with some precision. And from the slowly accumulating body of your reading,
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