Teacher Teacher

Listen while you read: Teacher Teacher

Young love, teacher's pet
Cheeks flushed, apple red
Ringing you every day
Begging for a word of praise
I've put aside my foolish games
I run and hide and call names
School's out, the bells'll ring
Now's the time to teach me everything

Teacher, teacher, teach me love
I can't learn it fast enough
Teacher, teacher, teach me more
I've got to learn to love for sure

Lesson one, just begun
Growing up ain't much fun
Growin' up, out of school
Out of luck and out of rules
No one there to tell me how
A different world, teacher, teach me now

Lesson two, nothing new
I can't love, just passing through

~  Phillips / Pickett (Rockpile)

Okay, so don't read too much into this. Did I have crushes on teachers when I was a kid? Of course. Did any of my students have crushes on me? Probably. Is this unusual? Not at all. As much as it disturbs me greatly when I read in the news about some liaison between a teacher and student, I do understand how easily it can happen. And I am grateful that it never happened to me.

Disclaimer done. And why did I pick this song today? Because it's National Teacher Appreciation Day!  Sure, I could have picked "Teach Your Children" or "To Sir, With Love." But "Teacher, Teacher" makes me want to get up and dance! Appearing on 1980's Seconds of Pleasure, Rockpile's only album, the song endures, at least in my head. Nick Lowe's voice may be pretty grovelly these days, but I still like him.

A few years ago, I attended a multi-year class reunion for students I taught early in my career. It was a lot of fun seeing what these eternal teenagers (in my head) had become. One of them, Diane, greeted  me with this: "I always remember that 'a lot' is two words!" And I immediately recalled saying to my students, "If you learn nothing else from me, learn that 'a lot' is two words!"

Well, I hope I taught them more than that! I hope I taught them love. Love of literature, love of language, love of ideas, love of learning. Love of music. I hope I taught them tolerance and compassion. I hope I taught them responsibility and accountability. I hope I taught them that all great literature is about what it means to be human. And that if poets ran the world, there would be peace.

Teaching is hard work. It's emotionally exhausting. It's the best career there is. And I liked it. A lot.

I want to thank Mrs. Newton, Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Sim, Mr. Kinney, Mr. Molina, Mrs. Jeager, Ms. Brown, Mrs. Dewhurst, Mr. Walko, Mr. Mull, Mr. Kleedorfer, Joe Bellamy, Mark Doty . . . and a lot of others. What teachers do you want to thank?