When I was a young boy my favorite baseball player was Willie Mays. I clearly remember when he went from 1st to third on a single, his hat flying off as he rounded second. He played the game with the passion and love of a young child which made it so much fun to watch. He tracked fly balls with such grace and ease.
I then remember Willie at the end of his career. The graceful stride that allowed him to take the extra base was now replaced by him stumbling around the base paths. The fear he put into opponents pitchers were no longer there. Did he not realize that he was no longer the player he once was? Was it the love of the game that kept him playing even though the game had passed him by.
In no way have I ever been a teacher as good as Willie Mays was a player. I try to bring the same passion to my job each day as he did to the field but I have never come close to accomplishing what he did on the field. So where am I going with this blog.
In the past few weeks I have been made to feel the same way Willie must have felt when he stumbled rounding the bases. In listening to what my bosses want me to do I am wondering has the game truly passed me by. Do students want to discuss points in class via edmodo? Do they want to use their electronic devices to discuss issues instead of words? Do they want to use groups to do their work instead of having the accomplishment of doing it themselves? Do all these fancy activities really help kids to learn more?
I continue to leave my school feeling sad, torn about has the game passed me by. Can all these people possibly be wrong. Do I need to leave before students are talking about me the way I talked about Willie? Who would come up to me and tell me the truth that I needed to hear?
It should not be like this, somehow you should know when you are done. However, if Willie was faked out, as was Johnny U, I am sure it can happen to me.
I don’t know much about Willie Mays, or baseball in general, but a quick Google search gave me the highlights: 660 home runs, 12 golden gloves, baseball hall of fame - the list goes on. It wasn’t until more than halfway down his Wikipedia page that I found any mention of his decline, and even then I found only two sentences. The fact that this was so much more difficult to find than his numerous records, firsts, and awards, proves that Willie Mays will be remembered for his successes, not his few failures (that is, if you call becoming the oldest, most passionate baseball player to ever play in the MLB an overall “failure”).
ReplyDeleteWillie was an inspiration for playing for the love of the game, for not quitting in an effort to “save his reputation”. In the long run I believe that his reputation was enhanced because of this decision. I’m sure that near the end, Willie knew that he wasn’t the same baseball player he was in his thirties. He acknowledged it, saying, “growing old is just a helpless hurt,” but that’s all it is: helpless. It happens to everyone, it’s not a reason to quit if you love to do it.
Just because Mays played “past his prime” did not mean he ceased to be useful to the team once he crossed that peak. Or, to make it a weird competitive-market/economics metaphor, he might not have been producing at minimum ATC anymore, with the highest revenue to cost ratio, but his MR still outweighed his MC. The Willie Mays “firm” should still produce more. If Willie Mays had retired before he did, he wouldn’t have “maximized profit”; the team would’ve lost true talent, not to mention a great mentor and figurehead.
All of this applies to teaching. If the goal of teaching is to help students learn and become successful adults, there is no point to teachers “quitting while you’re ahead.” If a teacher is still having a positive impact on the lives of students, it’s worthwhile to continue.
However, it’s important to realize that if students rave about a teacher, if he is constantly considered one of the best teachers any of the students have ever had, if his students are still creaming the nation on the AP test and are growing as individuals throughout their year under his instruction, I would argue that this teacher is still very much in his prime, and doesn’t yet have to worry about any of this.
So don’t worry about it!