Great Teachers Aren't Born

"I'm going to tell you everything you need to know about being a great teacher - steal. STEAL.  STEAL!"  Then, he left the stage.  That's how the great Harry Wong opened the day of professional development for this first-year teacher.  When he returned to the stage, he said, "Well, I told you I was going to tell you everything you needed to know.  I figured you could go home after that."  We spent the day laughing and learning from this tiny man who, at nearly 70 years of age, had more energy than anyone in the room.

Before there were Edu-celebrities, Harry Wong was one.  He didn't try to be. It didn't come from a fine-tuned marketing machine with social media support.  It came from being the real deal rather than a crafted persona, a truly influential person rather than "an influencer."  I know very few teachers who haven't had his seminal work The First Days of School somewhere in their education, whether in a college course on classroom management or required reading for their first-year training in a school or a gift from an administrator.  It is a practical book of techniques that have been tested "in the wild" and it has influenced me from year one.  From procedures for entering and exiting the classroom to attention-getting hand signals, Harry and Rosemary Wong have helped teachers create efficient classrooms and reduced stress for both teachers and students more than just about anyone in the last four decades.  But what makes that book so effective is that much of the writing was not done by the Wongs.  They collected and collated techniques teachers were already using to give younger teachers the wisdom of their experience.

Which brings me back to the day of professional development.  What he meant when he said, "Steal. Steal. Steal." was that teaching is improved by experience, but it doesn't always have to be your experience.  You can learn from the wisdom of others.  While I cannot find it attributed to him, I am 99% certain that I heard Harry Wong say that day, "Great teachers aren't born; they are made by the teacher next door."  (If I am wrong and someone else said it, please don't hold it against me.  It was 1998, and he may have attributed it to someone else that I just don't remember 26 years later.)  

It is true.  Teaching involves a thousand big and small activities every day.  They have to manage their classroom, plan lessons, do lunch duty, deliver lessons, grade homework, give feedback, write tests, create project rubrics, deal with emotional students (or parents), choose curriculum, etc.  Anyone who tries to do that alone with only the knowledge they acquired in college courses will quickly burn out.  Befriending the teacher next door and finding a co-conspirator is as important as preparing your learning activities.  Despite being with 30 to 130 people all day long, teaching can be a lonely job, and the only remedy for that is to spend time with other teachers.  No matter how good you are at this job, you need a mentor.  If the school assigns you one, that's great; but they may not be the person you naturally gravitate toward.  Find that person.  Go in their room, sit down, and start developing a relationship.  You need them. They need you.

Harry Wong passed last week, but his legacy did not.  His book will still be valuable to young teachers everywhere.  His videoed speeches will still engage and entertain while educating educators.  But if anything, his lesson to learn from the experienced teachers around you will continue to do good far beyond the 92 years of his life.  Rest in peace, Harry Wong.  We'll miss you.