Tully: Looking for a hero? Look in a classroom

Do you ever step back and think about what we ask of teachers? Or, to be more clear, how much we ask of them?

Hey, here are 20 kids. Or 25 kids. Or 30. Educate them. Help get them ready for college and life and all those tests, and make sure they make it through another day safely. Do so while managing the madness, energy, challenges and breakdowns that come with any large and diverse group of children. Oh, and then find a way to deal with sometimes pesky, overbearing or hard-to-reach parents, not to mention all of those state and federal rules and requirements.

Good luck!

Seriously, good luck.

Now that most students are back in classrooms all across Indiana, let’s all shout a collective "good luck" and "thank you" to the thousands of teachers who will be charged with educating our children for another year. Their collective task won’t be easy. Their work will seem thankless many days. But I hope teachers wake up every morning knowing how much so many of us value what they do and how deeply we understand that we ask too much.

Thank you.

I’ve been writing about education for about a decade and a huge chunk of my reporting, and certainly the most enlightening, has taken place in classrooms. Classrooms in which I’ve simply sat back and watched. I’ve learned a few things.

First, if you’re looking for a hero, look in a classroom. There’s a good chance you’ll find one at the front of the room.

Second, teaching is a profession, but it’s also an art. Few things impress me more than watching a great teacher manage, inspire and energize a classroom. It takes a special person to do all that, but because it is so routine we often take it for granted.

Third, the impact a teacher can have on a student, both in the moment and in the years and decades to come, is one of the true wonders of education.

Fourth, in these days of debates about testing and so many other education policies, policymakers should put the following goals at the top of the list: supporting teachers and doing all we can to make great teaching easier.

On Wednesday, I stepped inside Jen Browne’s fourth-grade classroom at Nora Elementary School. It was a typical day at the north-side school and, yet, there was magic in that room. Twenty students circled Browne, sitting on the floor as she filled the room with the energy of someone performing on stage. She kept each child engaged, sometimes with her words and sometimes with a quick look in the direction of a distracted student.

She talked with her class about exploring the classroom’s book collection, “until you find out what you love.” A few minutes later, students were reading books about money, dogs and mysteries. As they did, Browne walked around the room, kneeling to have quiet conversations with her students. There were no disruptions.

It’s this daily grind that is teaching. That’s what I’ve always found so remarkable about teachers: the amount of energy and passion it takes to manage and educate a classroom, and the requirement that they do it day after day after day.

The good news is that despite all of the divisions and battles over education policy, most everyone seems to agree on the value of teachers.

President Barack Obama has said, “America’s future depends on its teachers.” Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan once noted, “You cannot overestimate the impact and inspiration of great teachers.” Hey, they agree on something!

A report from the nation’s largest teachers union called great teachers “the ideal agents of meaningful and sustainable change.” Similarly, the education reform group Stand for Children called effective teaching “the most important school-based factor when it comes to improving student achievement.”

How’s that for pressure?

Yes, we ask too much of teachers. That’s why it is important to step back every once in a while and say thank you. Yes, accountability and high expectations are necessary. Most teachers I’ve met don’t mind that. But every public policy debate should be crafted in a way that ensures teachers hear that we value, respect and need them.

All of these debates would be a lot less divisive if policymakers and policy advocates spent more time in classrooms. There, they would see the daily challenges facing teachers such as Browne. They would better understand the realities facing educators. One glimpse came Wednesday as Browne worked with a student who has not yet learned English. Think about that the next time test scores are released.

I asked Browne, now 12 years into her career, why she decided to become a teacher. In response, she told me about John Schwartz, a particularly great teacher she had growing up in Peru, Ind. The two kept in touch over the years, and when Browne was in college and struggling to decide on a major, Schwartz encouraged her to consider teaching. He could tell she had a passion for education and children, and he was certain she could make a difference.

Later, after working at a summer camp for children with special needs, Browne said any questions about her future were answered. “This is what I’m meant to be,” she recalls thinking.

She still talks to Schwartz daily and said, “I try to live up to his passion and his expectations, and the energy he brought to class every day.” A dozen years after joining the teaching profession, she has never questioned her career decision.

“I love teaching,” she said.

For Browne and so many others, another challenging year of teaching has begun. That makes this a good time for the rest of us to send a message to all the great teachers out there.

We love that you love teaching. And we love you, too.

You can reach me at matthew.tully@indystar.com or on Twitter: @matthewltully.