Students Are The Real Teachers - Part 3: The Student I Wish I Had Been

Students Are The Real Teachers

The student I wish I had been in high school sits in my AP English class this year. This is my 2^nd year with her in my AP English courses (I teach Lit and Lang)  and I only wish I had more students like her.  In fact, I wish every student were like her.  Truth be told, I wish I had been more like her. 

This girl has a hunger to learn.  She’s not satisfied with the status quo. She challenges me to bring my teaching “A-game” every single class period.  Those days I want to slack off and just whip out a worksheet, I can't - I feel guilty – like in some way I’m letting her down. I was the kind of student who was just fine taking the non-challenging, "easy A" courses. I turned down a chance to take AP English my senior year because I didn't want the extra work. Not this girl. She’s driven to take every single challenging, AP/Honors course out there and she’s determined to succeed in each one. It’s the kind of drive and motivation, that, quite frankly, I do not understand.  I think I may have horrified her when, last year, I told the class that they needed to “strive for C’s” (so they could experience a taste of “failure” before getting to college).  

She is the kind of intelligent that doesn’t seem to even try – the so smart she doesn’t know how easy she’s got it – kind of smarts.  But she’s not that know-it-all - that annoying person who talks just to hear the sound of her own voice – she’s not that at all. In fact, she’s (seemingly) unaware of how difficult it is for the rest of us, assuming that the rest of the class is on par, making the connections that to her are so obvious – but to others are eye-opening. 

Sure, I got good grades (ok, truth be told, in English and History I got good grades. They were barely decent in Math or Science) – but grades aren’t the only indicator of intelligence and this girl has both the grades and the intelligence. 

She’s read almost every book I mention, both classics and modern fiction. I read in high school, but tended to re-read the same books over and over. I waited to expand my literary horizons until well after college.

She’s articulate – a great debater, quick thinking and quick witted.   I think of my best arguments at 3am two weeks after the initial debate. “Should have said THAT!!” (and then I can’t sleep out of the sheer frustration of having lost my chance to win that argument).

An amazing writer – her essays are a joy to read. Her ideas are insightful. Her thoughts clear and organized, her phrasing is beautiful.  I'm not so sure my essays would have qualified as "a joy to read."

She’s more than just smarts though. She’s funny, a great sense of humor – always willing to laugh at herself and playfully tease others. 

These past two years have been so enjoyable to teach because of this girl sitting in my class. I only wish I had been that student for my high school teachers. I only wish I had been that student for myself.