Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1998 06:19:15 -0400 (EDT)
Random Thought: My Commandments For My Teaching

Here I am with a freshly brewed cup of coffee at my side. It's a little before 5:00 a.m. I went out real early. The air had a nip of a refreshing and invigorating chill in it, but not enough to give me pause about putting on a shirt.

As I glided through the quiet and enveloping darkness, I was thinking about that voice at the other end of the telephone last Friday afternoon. I hadn't heard that voice in a long time. As soon she started talking with a "Hi doc, I guess who this is." I didin't have to. I jumped up from my slouch as if jolted by a shot of electricity. My heart started racing. As we talked, tears came to my eyes. There was a time or two my voice would have cracked had I had to say something at that moment.

I will only say that she had called me to tell me all was getting well. At the end of the conversation, she said, "I want you to know again how such a little thing as that Tootsie Pop you handed me in class and gave me another chance when you said, 'Let's make this Day One,'--and meant it-- was such a big thing to me. Don't ever forget that what you may think is not a big deal, is." And she hung up with a "I'll keep in touch."

I slowly put the receiver down. I could barely move. Everything was so quiet and seemed to move so slowly. I just closed my eyes and took slow, deep breaths. I felt a bright and burning after glow that has yet to wane. It is such a joyous feeling that I almost wish it proves to be an eternal flame.

I know I am being secretive. Sorry about that. Only six people know the story about this particular student. None are on campus. For the present, let's leave it that way. Enough to say, that her final words burned into my spirit with a demand that took away from me the option of being resigned, that eliminated the choice of becoming a cynic, that forbade the appearance of a feeling a hopelessness, that prohibited I lose faith and belief, that did allow me to become burnt out. She demanded that I not focus only on information and method. She demanded, no commanded, I sharply focus as well on that oft ignored dimension of teaching--the human dimension. She has made the choice for me to be an incurable "hopeholic."

Slowly, as I was reliving that conversation as I have been all weekend, desperately fanning the flames of that inner glow, at about the two mile mark of my route, I began to hear a voice from on high emerging from the heights of my inner spirit. As that voice spoke, I began feeling like Charleston Heston turning his face into the rock as divine, flaming fingers etched words in the stone. As I heard my inner voice, I realized I was forming a moral framework, a set of concepts that give me clarity, direction, purpose, satisfaction, fulfillment, and, ultimately, joy. I picked up my pace. I was afraid I would forget what I was hearing. I ran the last mile, slammed open the door hoping against hope I wouldn't stir my sleeping angel (thankfully I didn't wake her), grabbed a cup of coffee, and surrendered control of my fingers at the keyboard:

• TEACH TO THAT ONE STUDENT:
  always be there for that one person. Each student is an American treasure, an invaluable piece of the future. Each is as valuable as our national parks, as stirring as any bird's melody, as towering as any redwood, as majestic as any snow-capped summit, as glorious as any landscape, as beautiful as any flower, as entrancing as any seascape, as moving as any sunrise. Each is a noble and scared human being
• TEACH WITH AN UNSHAKABLE FAITH IN THAT ONE STUDENT
  Stay the committment. Focus on the journey, on the "ing" of thing, not on the "wished for"or "prayed for" goal; focus on today's learning, not on the prayer wishing they would learn
• TEACH TO THAT ONE STUDENT WITH A UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
  Nurture that struggling soul reaching out for acceptance. Love brings meaning to teaching that particles of information and the movement of method cannot.
• TEACH TO THAT ONE STUDENT WITH A BOLD COURAGE
  Stay in the light, be at home in your inner light and shut out those around you who would turn off the light
• TEACH TO THAT ONE STUDENT WITH BOUNDLESS EXPECTATIONS
  Each moment in a classroom is a moment of power, a moment of change, a moment that can make a difference. Big events and great ideas can happen in small spaces like a classroom.
• TEACH TO THAT ONE STUDENT WITH YOUR SPIRIT FIRMLY SECURED IN AN UNSWERVING BELIEF
  Don't just look for a miracle every day; find one and see it and celebrate it. Be that busy bee that always will find sweet nectar in the most unlikely and unexpected places
• TEACH TO THAT ONE STUDENT WITH YOUR SPIRIT SECURELY ANCHORED IN UNENDING HOPE.
  Never surrender your hope. Hope won't let you expire. It will drive you to aspire and inspire. A teacher can't be a complete teacher without hope.
• TEACH TO THAT ONE STUDENT WITH AN UNRELENTING AND UNCOMPROMISING TENACITY
  When there is a setback, when there is a disappointment, look for the flower budding among the jagged rocks, that single bloom in the supposedly lifeless desert. It's there
• TEACH TO THAT ONE STUDENT WITH AN EXCITED "WOW!!" NOT A TIRED "YUK."
  Celebrate each step as a milestone even if others don't know about it or think its only an inch and a pebble. Whatever little part you do is far better than doing nothing.
• TEACH TO THAT ONE STUDENT WITH AN ETERNAL SMILE IN YOUR SOUL AND ON YOUR FACE, AND A TOOTSIE POP IN YOUR HAND
  Exercise, utilize, build up those tiny muscles around your eyes, cheeks, and lips. Tiny they may be, but powerful they are. They can lift up a heavy heart and weighty spirit, and release goodness from the body and soul. A smile is a flashlight that shines your spirit, enthusiasm, and optimism for each student, on each student.