Sowing and Reaping
By Tim Dewar
It is a cliché to say that teachers plant seeds, yet as a metaphor, it is pretty accurate. It furthers the cliché to say that teachers rarely see the fruits of their labor, yet the extended metaphor still holds true. Nearly two decades ago, I planted a seed. Only recently did I learn that it took root and flourished. Funny thing is, I didn’t know I was planting a seed. No, it’s not that I didn’t know. It’s that the “teaching” I was doing was more like casting seeds into the wind or unknowingly spreading seeds by walking through a field, more than planting them. This Spring I received an email from a former student, a college student I taught while a professor at SUNY New Paltz and affiliated with the Hudson Valley Writing Project. The email recounted how as an undergraduate, the writer, T., wanted to change from the Adolescent Education emphasis to the Creative Writing emphasis within the English major. T. came to me as her instructor and advisor. The final assignment, to write a teaching philosophy or lesson plans or some other very teaching-focused task made no sense to her, the next great American novelist. Since she was no longer going to pursue teaching, she couldn’t imagine lesson plans or teaching philosophies. She needed out of the class right now, but she also needed the credits. We struck a deal. If she would write a paper explaining why she would not be a quality teacher, she would escape the course with the necessary credits. T. recounted this bargain in the email she wrote me. The email also informed me that T. is now a middle school English teacher and loving it. In the intervening years, she has worked in other fields, but recently found her way to teaching. She thanked me for the space I gave her to make her own choices, and sees in her own teaching the “humorous empathy” I gave her. She wakes each day with “a reason to give [her students] the kindness they deserve.” T.’s path to the teaching side of the classroom was longer than many, but I feel confident that she will be a better teacher than most. Not because of me. No, my ego is not so grand. Because truth be told, I am not sure if I remember T. and
HVWP COMMONPLACE 10
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