“People think that because they like to cook, they should open their own place.”
Last night, the manager of a new restaurant in our neighborhood described the reality of that business: working fourteen hour days, seven days a week, creating ambiance, cultivating a loyal following, serving consistently good and varied food. “What people just don’t get is that you can’t wake up one day and suddenly be running a successful place.”
Yet from the outside, in a well-run establishment, in the hands of an experienced staff, it does seem effortless. The pacing, the presentation, the meals all do appear to just happen.
As a teacher, I can relate.
Teachers hear this all the time. Plenty of people genuinely like their own kids and their kids’ friends. They can run an arts and crafts project at the dining room table. They can read aloud and turn fractions into decimals. They help their kids with homework. Some people even write. Therefore, they can certainly teach.
That’s because from the outside, in the hands of an experienced teacher, education also appears effortless. Inquisitive kids are working cooperatively, raising their hands, taking notes, asking questions.
But like the meal in a restaurant, it doesn’t just happen.
What outsiders don’t see are the hours teachers devote to planning. It’s one thing to successfully deliver a single day’s worth of reading, writing and arithmetic. But teachers must spin an intricate and continuous web of interconnected lessons that exist on a continuum of instruction. Today must flow organically into tomorrow and into next week, into next month. This demands content area expertise, foresight, intuition and flexibility. Teachers must create a master plan only to be ready to improvise at a moment’s notice when the inevitable interruptions arise. This all requires vision that comes only from experience.
And don’t forget that part of planning is coming up with engaging lessons that provide content knowledge while simultaneously allowing for the challenge and wonder of discovery. It’s like finding the balance between just the right amount of salt and garlic and ruining a dish by over seasoning.
Then, once the instruction has been skillfully executed, there is the time spent correcting student work. And this isn’t simply circling misspelled words or finding incorrect calculations or pinpointing mixed up chronology, either. It’s about giving kids positive, fair feedback so that their next task will be that much better than the last.
Opening a restaurant is starting sound do-able to me now. I am accustomed to long hours, hard work, and demanding consumers. People have told me my penne with olives and cherry tomatoes is restaurant quality. On second thought, I think I will just go back to Sergio’s and let the pros do their thing.
- Stephanie DiMartino
(Stephanie is a member of Pocantico Hills TA. Reprinted from her blog: http://thejoyofteachingblog.wordpress.com)