One-on-One with Rafe Esquith; How did you develop into the teacher you are today?

Rafe is a 5^th grade teacher at Hobart Elementary School in Los Angeles, California

·         Awarded the President’s National Medal of Arts

·         The American Teacher Award

·         Oprah Winfrey’s Use Your Life Award

·         Honorary Member of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II

·         Parents Magazine’s As You Grow Award

·         The Compassion in Action Award from the Dalai Lama

·         1992 Disney National  Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award

·         New York Times Best-Selling author for “Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire.”

How did you develop into the teacher you are today?

RAFE: I don’t like to fail and I sure failed a lot. One of the points I try to make with young teachers that come in is I tell them no one is good their first few years. They may think they are. You might be a great second year teacher, but you’re not a great teacher yet, it’s impossible. Unfortunately, because of Hollywood movies and because of things you read in the press, you can actually start to believe that at 24 you are a great teacher. You’re not. You don’t have the wisdom, you don’t have the experience, and you haven’t failed enough to know what it is to be a great teacher.

      I think what really shaped me in my early years was in believing I had been successful because I did get kids up to a much higher level on standardized tests. Their reading and math was better so I thought I had done a good job. But in hearing 2 or 3 years later about these same kids involved with gangs, or drugs, or dropping out of school and doing all kinds of awful things, I realized I hadn’t been a very good teacher because the real measure is what I’m giving them that will last them the rest of their lives. I had a lot of sleepless nights when I absolutely felt I had done well when in fact I really hadn’t. That’s when I had to sit down and think, “How can I do it better?”

     If we are trying to share qualities we have with other teachers. Every teacher has their strengths and weaknesses. My greatest strength is that I just don’t give up. I teach the kids not to give up when things are hard which means I can’t give up. When I failed, I still fail, but especially in those early years I learned to take a look inward, not to blame the kids, not to blame the parents, or to blame the system. Those things might be flawed but I can’t control that stuff. I can control my teaching. That’s when I started to shape my classroom differently. I’ve had more success since I started making those changes.

The above dialogue is an excerpt from the book, One-on-One With America's Most Inspiring Teachers. Now available on Amazon.com