My Vision Statement
By Mark Curcio, M. Ed.
Submitted September 30, 2019
Updated 9:04 PM ET, Wed December 11, 2019
Submitted September 30, 2019
Updated 9:04 PM ET, Wed December 11, 2019
In Shawn Achor’s The Happiness Advantage, he argues that happiness comes before success, not visa versa. If one of my students pass the exam, then English class with me is deemed a success - therefore the kid is happy. All of English, or ELA today, is wired that way - if you turn in a paper, the only way you’re happy is if it’s an A. If you take a reading quiz or test, if you pass, then you’re happy. Once it’s scored, it’s automatically forgotten, even the grammar rule you googled while editing.
I’ve been a high school ELA teacher for the better part of a decade as all of my years have ended with my students taking, and hopefully passing, the Literature state exam. Instead of igniting a passion to want to enter Barnes & Noble and purchase a novel, I have to review reading the questions first before reading a passage with the interest level of watching paint dry (that ironically they want to do more). Instead of teaching a future collegiate scholar how to sculpt a paper worthy of publication, I have to teach how to write a cookie-cutter response to prompts which have merit, but are graded based on the state average and not per student. In essence, a student is deemed “Proficient in English” if he or she passes a 27-question test. This is a hackneyed issue, but still I believe that teaching English is much, much more.
Teaching English is innovative. Although writing with a pen and paper is best based on research, Google docs has forever changed the brainstorming, collaborating, and editing processes for the better. Technology has simplified many professions and careers - and teaching is one of them.
Teaching English is experimental. It encourages you to challenge students to get out of their comfort zones and try something past teachers would have deemed ‘ridiculous’ - with the goal of developing into a workplace email composer, a weekend novelist, or a collegiate scholar.
Teaching English is hard-working. It develops students into tenacious writers who struggle to find the right word and stress over whether or not to hit submit or print for submission after two hours typing a “rubric-ready” draft. Although procrastination will always rear its ugly head, in their lifetimes, students will definitely have that one paper that will stick with them forever…
(Teaching English is rewarding) … whenever you are the one who assigns and helps them develop it.
Teaching English is creative because you have to be whenever you can Google any text and type .pdf or .doc after the title before you hit search. You have to find a creative way to take a simple text and turn it into something more - like whenever a student is struggling with a decision, and he vividly recalls the life lesson given by a discussion you led. He might be able to find the text online - but not the answer.
My passion is battling the stigmas of teaching English and developing senses of personal happiness that English elicits in my classroom and out in the real world once my students leave.
Teaching English is the creation of personal happiness. That confidence with a resume that you wrote on your own to land the dream job. That special email, direct message, or text with the perfect words to a loved one who needs it most. That pure satisfaction when you finish a paper and click Print. That sense of pleasure in delving into a new world when you crack open a new book.
All of these are taught in English class - but instead of focusing on the end result of a test at the end of that year or semester, teaching English should focus on the end results of your students once they leave.
I’ve been a high school ELA teacher for the better part of a decade as all of my years have ended with my students taking, and hopefully passing, the Literature state exam. Instead of igniting a passion to want to enter Barnes & Noble and purchase a novel, I have to review reading the questions first before reading a passage with the interest level of watching paint dry (that ironically they want to do more). Instead of teaching a future collegiate scholar how to sculpt a paper worthy of publication, I have to teach how to write a cookie-cutter response to prompts which have merit, but are graded based on the state average and not per student. In essence, a student is deemed “Proficient in English” if he or she passes a 27-question test. This is a hackneyed issue, but still I believe that teaching English is much, much more.
Teaching English is innovative. Although writing with a pen and paper is best based on research, Google docs has forever changed the brainstorming, collaborating, and editing processes for the better. Technology has simplified many professions and careers - and teaching is one of them.
Teaching English is experimental. It encourages you to challenge students to get out of their comfort zones and try something past teachers would have deemed ‘ridiculous’ - with the goal of developing into a workplace email composer, a weekend novelist, or a collegiate scholar.
Teaching English is hard-working. It develops students into tenacious writers who struggle to find the right word and stress over whether or not to hit submit or print for submission after two hours typing a “rubric-ready” draft. Although procrastination will always rear its ugly head, in their lifetimes, students will definitely have that one paper that will stick with them forever…
(Teaching English is rewarding) … whenever you are the one who assigns and helps them develop it.
Teaching English is creative because you have to be whenever you can Google any text and type .pdf or .doc after the title before you hit search. You have to find a creative way to take a simple text and turn it into something more - like whenever a student is struggling with a decision, and he vividly recalls the life lesson given by a discussion you led. He might be able to find the text online - but not the answer.
My passion is battling the stigmas of teaching English and developing senses of personal happiness that English elicits in my classroom and out in the real world once my students leave.
Teaching English is the creation of personal happiness. That confidence with a resume that you wrote on your own to land the dream job. That special email, direct message, or text with the perfect words to a loved one who needs it most. That pure satisfaction when you finish a paper and click Print. That sense of pleasure in delving into a new world when you crack open a new book.
All of these are taught in English class - but instead of focusing on the end result of a test at the end of that year or semester, teaching English should focus on the end results of your students once they leave.