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| Positive Article |
Teachers Only - Mr. Pacheco's Proven Formula For Success
By Gian Fiero
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My freshman year in high school was my worst year academically in any grade level. It's not that the work was hard, or that the workload was heavy, I was simply having difficulty adjusting to life at a Catholic, all-boys, college-prep school after spending more time dancing than studying the previous year in the 8th grade.
My mother's decision to uproot me from the public school system (and my wayward friends) would ensure that I would spend more time in the books than on the dance floor. Because of my apathetic attitude, I failed some courses and barely passed others.
One day while reviewing homework assignments (which I didn't complete), my Spanish teacher and eventual mentor, Mr. Pacheco, looked me straight in the eye in front of my entire class and said with a stern gaze, "When are you going to stop pretending to be a muchacho bruto?"
Roughly translated that means stupid boy. I took offense at the statement.
He told me to stop wasting my mother's money and take advantage of the opportunity that I have been blessed with. I was still offended.
After class he talked to me about my "attitude." It was during this conversation that my academic fortunes changed (I ended up winning Spanish honors), and little did I know, it planted the seeds for my career as an educator.
Fast-forward many years later...I'm now a college professor.
I'm the one dealing with students who have attitude issues. Because "higher" education is voluntary, you would assume that the apathy that I blatantly displayed as a freshman in high school would not be an issue for university students... guess again.
The sad reality is that most college students are more concerned with completing a course and getting credit for it, than they are in what they can learn from it. For many of them, there is no difference between a "B" and an "A."
I once asked my students what they felt was the difference between the two grades and a student replied: "More paperwork." What a profound statement.
Marty Nemko, a career counselor based in Oakland, California writes in his book, How to Get an Ivy League Education at a State University, "employers report repeatedly that many new graduates they hire are not prepared to work, are lacking the critical thinking, writing and problem-solving skills needed in today's workplaces."
Apparently avoiding "more paperwork" is habit forming.
Mr. Pacheco once told me that the real purpose of school is to learn how to think; not what to think.
Many of today's students aren't being challenged to think; they are merely being graded - and passed - based upon their ability to regurgitate or recall information on a test, which more than likely is multiple choice or true/false (which students overwhelmingly prefer).
What teachers learn from teaching is that those types of exams only test the short-term memory and deductive reasoning skills of students. It's because of this reason that I was never in favor of multiple choice or true/false tests.
Constructing tests or projects that reflect the kind of work that calls upon the education being taught is how teachers should measure a student's true comprehension of the subject matter.
It also allows us to accurately gage their ability to think in a solution oriented manner. After all, education does not become knowledge until it is coupled with experience; therefore, it behooves us to simulate the circumstances that will be encountered in real-life situations.
Sadly, this is the exception, not the norm for underpaid and overworked teachers who often recycle the same exams used year after year for convenience.
What I've learned from teaching is that students who take interest in their subject matter and have a plan to apply their education to some endeavor in the immediate future, are the ones who excel academically and professionally.
Their personal interest compels them to dig deeper and fully wrap their minds around subjects, as a result, they become degreed thinkers; students who are degreed thinkers are in shorter supply and greater demand than those with college degrees.
It's this very point that today's teachers must speak to - especially when you consider that the marketplace is now saturated with workers who have degrees. Entrepreneurs rise from the ranks of degreed thinkers, and employers love (and reward) them once they've meet the challenge of demonstrating the depth and breadth of their thinking abilities.
What teachers learn from teaching is that degreed thinkers are also happier people.
Statistics show that those with college degrees earn more. By some accounts it's 50% more (depending on the job and the degree). In terms of dollars, it's about $23,000 more per year. The government uses these stats as marketing tools for higher education; colleges use them to promote higher attendance at their campuses.
The correlation between obtaining a degree and having a more fulfilling life as a result of opportunities created through the use of education is not trumpeted enough. Teachers need to do a better job of teaching students about that correlation.
What teachers learn from teaching is that our educational system is designed to maintain the status quo of our nation's discontented workforce.
Students mirror the nation's apathetic workforce with their mere preoccupation with survival (survival; defined as vocational and economic complacency), while only a minority is driven enough to succeed (succeed; defined as vocational and economic gratification).
This apathy is the root of the reason why far too many people hate their jobs.
What's even worse is that so many people accept and live with their hatred. This hatred stems in part from being misemployed or underemployed; resulting in your passions being neglected and your true talents not being utilized.
Somehow people have been conditioned to think that if they compartmentalize the disdain they have for their jobs, it will make their dissatisfaction easier to ignore. Those with demanding and time consuming jobs predictably offer the outward prosaic justification of money as an excuse while they inhale and suffer in silence.
To them I offer these simple facts:
There are 8,760 hours in a year. You spend 2,555 hours per year sleeping (a generous estimate based on 7 hours of sleep per night). You have 2,496 hours of weekend time each year. We spend 2,080 hours (or more) at work each year, based on an 8 hour work day.
Is 2,080 hours a lot of time to spend doing something that you hate? If you find out what you love to do as a student before you graduate, you will be able to breathe freely everyday once you join the workforce.
What teachers learn from teaching is that students take time for granted.
Time spent in college is prep time; time to prepare you for life. The classes you take, the activities that you are involved in, and the people you spend time with represent investments that you should seek a return on. Bad investments are tough to overcome. They result in money being squandered (bachelor's degrees are estimated to be $50,000), and most importantly, time lost.
Mr. Pacheco would occasionally have us put away our textbooks so that we could talk about "real life." It was during these talks that we got a chance to share our life experiences with him, and he in turn would bestow his wisdom upon us.
In retrospect I realize that he was getting to know us better while seeking opportunities and different ways to educate us while breaking down the barriers of resistance. He made sure that we saw how the subject matter was relevant and useful to the lives and pursuits of every student in the class.
What I've learned from teaching, perhaps most importantly, is that the real difference between being good and being great is putting forth extra effort; which is also the difference between a "B" student and an "A" student - not paperwork (though there is more work involved).
Mr. Pacheco always said that "the key to being outstanding in anything is to demand more from yourself than you allow others to."
It's a proven formula for success that teachers can use to maximize their effectiveness so that struggling or average students who are - in Mr. Pacheco's words - "pretending to be muchachos brutos," can start to really learn what they are being taught.
May he rest in peace.
Author's Bio
Gian Fiero is an educator and speaker who lectures throughout the country. He is affiliated with San Francisco State University as an adjunct professor and the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) where he conducts workshops on topics that include business development, career planning, public relations, and personal growth.
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