The Day I Became a GOOD TEACHER

00:05:41
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOsEsBW56MQ

Summary

TLDRIn the winter of 2015, a teacher struggles to prepare for class and ends up repeating a lesson. Faced with confusion from his students, he shifts from performance to honesty, inviting them to ask personal questions. This leads to a meaningful discussion about life, dreams, and personal experiences, ultimately teaching him that genuine care and connection are more important than entertaining performances. The experience transforms his approach to teaching, allowing him to become the kind of teacher he always aspired to be.

Takeaways

  • 📅 Winter of 2015, a teacher's struggle begins.
  • 💻 Panic sets in as he finds no lesson plan.
  • 😟 Fear of boring students looms large.
  • 👩‍🏫 Students point out the repeated lesson.
  • 😳 Teacher feels embarrassed and vulnerable.
  • 💬 Honest conversation replaces the lesson plan.
  • 🤔 Students ask personal questions about life.
  • ❤️ Genuine connections are formed in the classroom.
  • 🎉 Anna declares it the best class ever.
  • 🌱 Teacher learns the importance of caring for students.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:41

    In the winter of 2015, a teacher struggles with the pressure of performing in front of his students, feeling overwhelmed and unprepared for class. Despite his efforts to engage them, he realizes he has inadvertently repeated a lesson, leading to embarrassment and self-doubt. In a moment of vulnerability, he shifts from performance to honesty, inviting students to ask questions about life rather than history. This unexpected turn fosters a genuine connection, allowing students to express their hopes and fears. The class ends on a high note, with a student expressing appreciation for the authentic interaction, leading the teacher to understand that true teaching is about caring for students as individuals rather than merely performing for them.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • What did the teacher struggle with on that day?

    He struggled with preparing a lesson and ended up repeating one he had taught the day before.

  • How did the students react to the repeated lesson?

    They looked confused and pointed out that it was the same lesson as the previous day.

  • What did the teacher do when he realized he had nothing prepared?

    He decided to be honest with the students and asked them what questions they had.

  • What kind of questions did the students ask?

    They asked personal questions about life, dreams, and the teacher's experiences.

  • What was the outcome of the class?

    The students felt engaged and connected, leading to a memorable class experience.

  • What lesson did the teacher learn from this experience?

    He learned that being a good teacher is about caring for students and acknowledging their lives beyond the classroom.

  • How did the teacher feel at the end of the class?

    He felt emotional and realized he had become the kind of teacher he always wanted to be.

  • What did Anna say to the teacher at the end?

    She told him it was the best class they had ever had.

  • What did the teacher realize about performances in teaching?

    He realized that students didn't want a performance; they wanted someone who cared about them.

  • What did the teacher do differently after this experience?

    He set aside the need to perform and focused on building genuine connections with his students.

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  • 00:00:03
    it's the winter of 2015. it's 5 30 in
  • 00:00:06
    the morning i'm sitting in a starbucks
  • 00:00:07
    with my laptop open now class starts in
  • 00:00:10
    two hours and i have no idea what i'm
  • 00:00:13
    going to teach that day at this point
  • 00:00:15
    i've got five preps and my whole
  • 00:00:17
    teaching career feels like trying to
  • 00:00:18
    grab a yoga ball covered in baby oil no
  • 00:00:20
    matter how hard i try i just can't seem
  • 00:00:23
    to get a hold of it and what i want more
  • 00:00:25
    than anything is to be loved by my
  • 00:00:27
    students and that drive has made me into
  • 00:00:30
    a performer like every day i'm shouting
  • 00:00:32
    i'm whispering i'm telling funny stories
  • 00:00:34
    i'm jumping up on tables all in an
  • 00:00:36
    effort to make that class the most
  • 00:00:38
    memorable class i can make it and so far
  • 00:00:41
    it's working at the end of the year
  • 00:00:43
    students write me notes saying that my
  • 00:00:45
    classes made them love history that i'm
  • 00:00:47
    the best teacher they've ever had and
  • 00:00:48
    you know there's something deeply
  • 00:00:50
    satisfying about that but
  • 00:00:52
    the performance has worn me down to a
  • 00:00:55
    nub and so i'm sitting in that starbucks
  • 00:00:56
    frantically clicking around my old
  • 00:00:58
    lesson plans
  • 00:01:00
    and i find nothing
  • 00:01:01
    so i start clicking around teachers pay
  • 00:01:03
    teachers and i can find nothing and it's
  • 00:01:06
    seven o'clock by now and the panic is
  • 00:01:07
    starting to rise i have absolutely
  • 00:01:10
    nothing to bring them today and i'm
  • 00:01:11
    starting to despair that i'm gonna find
  • 00:01:13
    anything at all and if i have nothing to
  • 00:01:15
    bring them
  • 00:01:16
    then i'm afraid i'm going to bore them
  • 00:01:18
    and if i bore them then i won't be that
  • 00:01:19
    great teacher anymore and so by 7 15 my
  • 00:01:23
    fear is mixed with despair and finally
  • 00:01:25
    the time has run out so i just choose an
  • 00:01:27
    old lesson plan that i've taught before
  • 00:01:29
    that i think is kind of related and i
  • 00:01:31
    think i can pull off with some degree of
  • 00:01:33
    flair
  • 00:01:34
    so i close my laptop
  • 00:01:36
    pack up i drive to school i'm in my
  • 00:01:38
    classroom the bell rings the students
  • 00:01:40
    settle and although i am definitely
  • 00:01:42
    strung out i conjure the performer and
  • 00:01:44
    start in on the lesson plan
  • 00:01:47
    but instead of seeing
  • 00:01:49
    faces of astonishment and engagement i
  • 00:01:51
    see the students looking sideways at
  • 00:01:53
    each other like looking confused with me
  • 00:01:56
    which okay fine no problem i just
  • 00:01:57
    increased the intensity with which i'm
  • 00:01:59
    delivering the lesson and that causes
  • 00:02:00
    some of them to look down as if they're
  • 00:02:02
    ashamed or maybe they feel sorry for
  • 00:02:04
    someone
  • 00:02:06
    finally a girl in the back named anna
  • 00:02:09
    hesitantly raises her hand and i call on
  • 00:02:11
    her and she says um mr heimler
  • 00:02:14
    and then she pauses
  • 00:02:16
    i think this is the same lesson you
  • 00:02:17
    taught us yesterday
  • 00:02:20
    now i know that's not true i mean i
  • 00:02:23
    think i would remember if i taught a
  • 00:02:24
    lesson yesterday and then another went
  • 00:02:26
    hand went up and said this is the lesson
  • 00:02:29
    you taught yesterday mr heimler and head
  • 00:02:31
    start nodding in agreement across the
  • 00:02:33
    room
  • 00:02:34
    and that's when i stopped and a great
  • 00:02:36
    fear swept over me like i'm racking my
  • 00:02:39
    brain i have no memory of teaching this
  • 00:02:41
    lesson but the external evidence
  • 00:02:42
    suggests pretty strongly that i did
  • 00:02:45
    am i really that strung out that i can't
  • 00:02:47
    remember what happened the day before
  • 00:02:49
    so
  • 00:02:50
    you know what am i supposed to do we've
  • 00:02:52
    got an hour left in class and if i scrap
  • 00:02:54
    this lesson plan i've got nothing to
  • 00:02:56
    fill that time and at that moment
  • 00:02:58
    not only am i afraid i'm deeply
  • 00:03:01
    embarrassed like the exhausting work
  • 00:03:03
    that i've done to perform well and be
  • 00:03:05
    the best teacher these kids have ever
  • 00:03:06
    had has in a moment been stripped away
  • 00:03:09
    from me and i feel like i'm just
  • 00:03:10
    standing there naked
  • 00:03:13
    so
  • 00:03:13
    they're staring at me like waiting for
  • 00:03:15
    what comes next and in that moment
  • 00:03:18
    i close my computer put all my notes in
  • 00:03:21
    my bag i sit on a stool and i'm just
  • 00:03:23
    honest with them i tell them
  • 00:03:26
    i'm sorry that you know my teaching
  • 00:03:28
    schedule has got the better of me
  • 00:03:30
    but we have an hour of class left and so
  • 00:03:32
    after a long moment i say
  • 00:03:33
    okay what questions do you have
  • 00:03:36
    and no one raises their hand so i
  • 00:03:37
    clarify the questions don't have to be
  • 00:03:39
    about history they can be about you know
  • 00:03:40
    your life or about me or whatever and no
  • 00:03:42
    one is talking and inside i've already
  • 00:03:44
    started calculating you know what other
  • 00:03:46
    careers i might be suited for and that's
  • 00:03:48
    when anna who raised her hand in the
  • 00:03:50
    beginning said
  • 00:03:52
    how do you know what you're supposed to
  • 00:03:53
    do with your life
  • 00:03:56
    and so i tell her about my own life and
  • 00:03:58
    how i've tried to answer that question
  • 00:03:59
    and she smiles and she nods her head and
  • 00:04:02
    then another student asks what if i
  • 00:04:04
    don't get into the college that i want
  • 00:04:05
    to attend and we start talking about
  • 00:04:07
    that and we start talking about hopes
  • 00:04:09
    and dreams and after that more questions
  • 00:04:11
    how did you meet your wife how did you
  • 00:04:13
    know that she was the one and as we were
  • 00:04:15
    talking i could see them starting to
  • 00:04:17
    lean in because no teacher had ever
  • 00:04:20
    allowed them to ask such questions in
  • 00:04:23
    class
  • 00:04:24
    and then the bell
  • 00:04:25
    rings
  • 00:04:27
    the students stand up and they hesitate
  • 00:04:29
    for a moment as if they don't want to
  • 00:04:30
    leave this moment that we just created
  • 00:04:32
    but they finally do
  • 00:04:34
    on the way out anna stops and says to me
  • 00:04:38
    mr heimler
  • 00:04:39
    this is the best class we've ever had
  • 00:04:43
    she leaves and i tear up because that's
  • 00:04:45
    when i realized that in the endless
  • 00:04:47
    cycle of performing for my students i
  • 00:04:49
    missed what it is that truly makes for a
  • 00:04:50
    good teacher someone who cares for their
  • 00:04:53
    students and who acknowledges that their
  • 00:04:55
    lives are bigger and more complex than
  • 00:04:57
    my classroom
  • 00:04:59
    and so that meant i could set the
  • 00:05:01
    performance aside because they never
  • 00:05:03
    wanted a performance anyway
  • 00:05:05
    they wanted someone to say
  • 00:05:07
    i see you
  • 00:05:08
    i care about what matters to you
  • 00:05:11
    and so
  • 00:05:12
    on the day when my teaching failed
  • 00:05:15
    that's the day i became the kind of
  • 00:05:17
    teacher that i've always wanted to be
  • 00:05:40
    you
Tags
  • teaching
  • education
  • student engagement
  • personal connection
  • teacher reflection
  • classroom experience
  • honesty
  • performance
  • life lessons
  • career