What was Mrs. Crane thinking?
I always wondered why my sixth-grade teacher wanted to lug around those enormous books, the teacher editions of the textbooks that lulled me into a zombie-like stupor for the majority of my school daze.
Mrs. Crane stood like a West Point cadet and carefully adjusted her reading glasses before she called on a student to read aloud the wonders of simple machines.
Instead of reading that same paragraph silently, as Mrs. Crane instructed, I maniacally scanned the rest of the page, hoping to get in at least a little rehearsal time before I felt the white-hot spotlight that was reading out loud in front of my classmates.
Sixth grade was like that — boring, predictable, and sometimes a little stressful. That is, until about mid-year, when, from all outward appearances, Mrs. Crane lost her mind.
One day we silently filled in the blanks in our grammar workbooks, and the next we began writing a grade-wide musical. That's right, a musical — Madison Elementary School's sixth-grade take on Noah and the Flood. We wrote the script, the music, the lyrics, and choreographed it, too. We even built the sets.
What did we learn? That writing can be fun and purposeful when it isn't limited to worksheets. That math matters when it involves measuring to construct something that will actually be used. That there was more to music than just the songs I loved by the Rolling Stones. That I danced better than some of the girls in my class.
Putting this production together took months. The two other elementary schools in town participated, and we competed for the top prize, whatever that was. I don't remember because it doesn't matter. What mattered was seeing Mrs. Crane come alive. I could tell she really liked working with children. I liked learning for the very first time. Who knew school could be fun?
I share this anecdote because I've been reading a lot about school reform lately. President Obama's plan to improve public education sounds a lot like his predecessor's — testing students and holding them and their teachers accountable. But Mr. President, why not study how the best teachers manage to truly engage a classroom full of diverse learners? What exactly are the most effective teacher practices that truly enhance learning?
I don't know if any Harvard School of Education researchers were in the audience on that warm spring night way back in 1968. If not, they missed a great show. They could have spoken to beaming teachers and parents, and they would have gotten an earful from the kids regarding what they learned and how they learned it.
It speaks volumes that I still remember the details of a school event from 42 years ago. Was this dramatic departure from school-as-usual all Mrs. Crane's idea? I'll never know. But perhaps for the only time in her career, Mrs. Crane took a risk, and she hit the jackpot.
All teachers should be encouraged, from the highest levels of the education establishment, to do the same.
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John Edmondson is a teacher in Hampstead.
