Exit Slip: September 7 (Frank McCourt)

As a result of last year's current events, towards the end of the video, I thought, "Why does a man described as an 'ordinary everyday' teacher, share with Taylor Swift the fact that they both have an honourary doctorate from NYU?" That was answered by Frank McCourt himself, who coincidentally answered, "ordinary teachers don't get honourary doctorates." In a wonderful discussion with Andrew and Jacky, we settled on the following differences between an ordinary teacher and Frank McCourt: mastery of teaching requires mastery of connection, a fine line exists between comfort and stagnancy, lesson plans do not make great teachers, and great teachers teach humans- not students. 

That last point on teaching humans resonated with me. Frank McCourt spoke passionately about how he embraced teenage rebellion (or 'energy', as he put it) in his classrooms. He allowed them to rant and release emotions before redirecting back to the purpose of the activity. In a sense, he taught their human-ness instead of expecting their collective acceptance of the curriculums. I really liked seeing that perspective executed, because we often feel restricted by the curriculum, especially as math teachers. I sometimes feel exhausted seeing the beauty in calculus, and just as much in geometry, history, game theory, number theory, cryptography, topology, (and ~statistics~), but never being able to teach it. Why learn calculus if I'll never use it, but not cryptography which protects all my passwords? What about the how the Nash equilibrium in game theory affects traffic light construction? How about the hailstone sequence in number theory- why haven't mathematicians found a proof for such a simple and intuitive sequence? How on earth did the artists of the Alhambra create the intricate geometric tilings almost 800 years ago? These are questions I now feel excited to embrace in my math classrooms, knowing that Frank McCourt was able to nurture their expression and not dismiss it. 

Additionally, based on his circumstance and little knowledge of the system, there wasn't much for him to unlearn. That allowed him to experiment on a clean slate rather than instinctually fall back on a teaching style from the past, which struck me as a budding educator. It's okay to make mistakes trying new methods, but it's not okay to hold on to the what worked in the past because we are intimidated by unsuccessful lesson plans. His view of life helped him empathize and respond to the students in a more meaningful way, leading to their curiosity, respect, trust, vulnerability, and ultimately - their learning. I took from him that the better we are at connecting with each human being, the better we are at being human teachers.