Erica Jacobs, The Examiner
2008-04-21 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

WASHINGTON -

For the past week, I have been a student. It’s an all-important role every teacher should embrace as often as possible, because if you are no longer a student, I don’t think you can be an empathetic teacher.

In my case, my student status was accidental. I have learned not to take on more than I can handle beyond my full-time high school teaching and part-time college teaching. This column puts me pretty close to my “maximum output.” So when I agreed to switch my TeacherTalk D.C. Examiner blog over to the national Examiner site, I figured that would not involve any new work on my part. I would just be on a different “page.”

Boy, was I wrong! Becoming a national “Education Examiner” has been an experience with a steep learning curve, and I stumbled into it by accident.

The new online Examiner had its debut a week ago today, and at first the only difference between my old blog and the new one seemed to be that it was featured on the homepage: I didn’t have to click on “Blogs” to get to my name. But within a few hours the real differences became apparent. This wasn’t any leisurely group of bloggers I was part of. They were SERIOUS.

I found myself in the middle of a fast-moving game and hadn’t even figured out the rules yet. There were pictures, YouTube videos, opinion polls. Any blogger who didn’t post was exiled to some back page. If you wanted to stay in the game, you had to be current. No more posting once or twice a week — twice a day was the absolute minimum with this much exposure. Three times a day would be even better, but I’d have to drop either my high school or college job to find the time for that!

The real education for me, however, has not been in technology or blogging 101, but in my accidental student status. All week I’ve felt stupid and not good enough. I needed the “teacher” backstage at the website to cheer me on and help me get through rough patches. Teachers tell students all the time not to get discouraged if something doesn’t come the first time; I never thought I would be hearing it instead of saying it!

All year I’ve watched some seniors in my Advanced Placement course summarizing plot instead of analyzing language in their essay tests. They feel stupid and not good enough. They wonder why they’ve always done well in English and suddenly, in this class, the rules have all changed.

And now I get it; I completely understand where they are coming from. I also see that most have learned to read more carefully and analyze language more specifically over time. They have grown and don’t feel discouraged anymore.

That bodes well for me. I still don’t know how to post a YouTube video or take a poll, but I know I will learn soon. Students need to hang in there and have faith. And teachers need to just keep cheering them on. (Thanks, Joshua!)

Erica Jacobs teaches at Oakton High School and George Mason University. She is also an “Education Examiner.” E-mail her at ejacob1@gmu.edu.