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Guest Column by Mary Hinnenkamp

 

I miss teaching. I have been retired now for almost three years, and I still miss the energy that comes into the classroom when students enter. I miss discussing a short story’s significance with students, analyzing an event in history or helping a student to solve a math problem. But most of all, I miss the relationships that I had with students, the conversations, the stories and sense that we were “all in this together.”   

In a recent article in Education Week, the author Sarah Sparks estimated that many students spend more than 1,000 hours a year with their teachers. She explained that 46 studies show that the really good teachers, the effective ones, use that time to develop relationships with their students. What kind of relationships? She explained that teachers who have empathy, who work to have good reciprocal focus, where teachers and students feel they are respectfully working together to solve problems, are the most effective and produce the best results.

Teachers know that when they learn information about students and build relationships, students often have better attendance, work harder, act out less, engage in the work more and have better grades.

And relationships are the essence of the nominations we received for our Albert Lea Teacher of the Year. Parents nominated a teacher who “cares,” “has a heart of gold,” “who helped my grandchild become more confident” and who “communicates with such kindness.”

Colleagues nominated teachers who are hard-working, calm, organized, supportive, a leader, a role model, a problem solver, a team player, who “creates an environment where students thrive,” “who spends a lot of time creating and planning lessons,” and who “shows his students how important they are.”

But the largest number of nominations comes from students who, of course, know teachers best, often having spent 1,000 hours with them. The three qualities students cited most are nice, funny, helpful, understanding and caring.  But what does that mean? Some of the direct quotes clarify. They nominated teachers who “helped me out of my comfort zone,” “sees stuff in us that no other teacher sees,” a math teacher who “understands my lack of understanding,” and a teacher who is “very kind and makes me excited to go to school.” They nominated a teacher who “showed me a world and taught me I can be anything I wish to be,” a teacher who makes me “go to school and want to stay cause you like being in class,” and a teacher whose “dedication to her work inspires me because I want to be smart and dedicated like her one day.”

As for me, I am grateful that in these uncertain times, our students are in the hands of such talented, compassionate teachers. The coronavirus has forced schools to change via distance learning. But I know that our teachers will balance the academics with the support students and families need, so all students will learn and still feel connected and still feel like a community of learners.

The Teacher of the Year Committee struggled about how to handle our announcement and celebration this year. We decided that for our community of teachers and learners, and for our community as a whole, we need to celebrate and honor our teachers as we traditionally have, but to do so in a safe manner.  So, to that end, the choice for Teacher of the Year will be announced at 3 p.m. Tuesday at an outdoor event at Hammer Field. The event will be by invitation only but will be covered by television, radio and newspaper. We encourage folks to listen, watch, read and follow the event and to check the district website. Our world may have changed for now, but we must always honor hard work and excellence.

Mary Hinnenkamp is a member of the Teacher of the Year Committee.