About Because and in the Course of Teaching

By Haroon Monis

A teacher's sometimes funny, and sometimes heartwarming, but usually educational account of the everyday teaching moments within and without the classroom.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 12, 2011
• ISBN: 9781257599912

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Note from the Author

I sort of fell into teaching. I wanted to become an actor when I first arrived into the United States.

My sister in-law with whom I lived at the time was an individual who seemed to find all types of answers from books. She brought me all kinds of books on how actors make no money, and how the majority of actors end up being waiters and bartenders. I read and thought to myself that if you really pursued something, you would eventually end up achieving it.

Eventually I thought that the dream of becoming an actor faded away as the reality of getting a college education set in.

I was going to be an accountant when I embarked on my journey into college, but the Principles of Accounting class taught me that the public at large is dishonest, and it is the job of an accountant to catch them. As a person who has always believed in the sanctity of human existence, I had a hard time with the basic concept of accounting. I was struggling in my Business Calculus class as well. It got so tough that I had to go and see an advisor. I decided with the help of the advisor that I needed to make a change in my major.

It was at this juncture that I decided I would take courses in the realm of Liberal Arts. And so began my career in teaching. It has been a challenging, amazing and rewarding journey. Having made the decision to become a teacher stands as the most wonderful decision I have made in all my life.

The following collection of stories from my teaching experience is the main reason I enjoy teaching. Students do and say the most amazing things. From their comments and actions, we can derive not only laughter, but also profound lessons from their young minds’ wisdom.

The Dungeon

I began my teaching career in one of the oldest middle schools in the city of San Antonio. This school had a basement that the teachers endearingly called the dungeon,and my classroom during my first year was located there.

I have made it a habit of getting to school early, and on this particular morning as I was descending into the dungeon, it was still dark outside. As I took the steps down, I sang as loud as I could a tune which I no longer recall, but a tune which must have been a happy one because I was in a good mood.

I heard a voice rise from the depths of the dungeon that demanded, What are you so happy about?

I paused momentarily to reflect and come up with an answer to the question that had been hurled at me in such an accusatory tone. I answered it honestly by saying, Well, I am in America, I have a job I love, I have pretty good students, I have a house, I have a car, I have enough to eat, and I am alive. If I were in Afghanistan, I’d probably be dead. I’d say I have plenty to be happy about.

When I reached the bottom rungs of the steps, I saw an older teacher, the same one who had posed the question, shaking her head, but also smiling. It dawned on me at that moment that choice is a major player in all our lives.

My two choices: to sing in order to express my happiness, and to answer the question she had posed honestly had made her realize that life is full of choices and we are the chooser. Although not always easy, there is usually the better choice that we can pick. I took her smile to mean that she had gotten it—she had become happier. I can’t tell you that from that day forward, she chose the happier path every day; life does not work that way. I can tell you though that just for that day I felt a little more satisfied and happier having helped someone else see that choice—positive choice—does make a difference.

Sarah: A Teacher’s Reward

I was my family’s last hope. I was the brains of the family and I disappointed them by picking a profession that everyone knows is not a high-paying one. I chose to be a teacher. I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher even though I called teaching by other names—I called it acting, public speaking, etc. at different junctures in my life.

As I was doing my student teaching during the school year that spanned from 2000 to 2001, Amber, a student in my World History class asked, Why did you pick teaching of all the things you could have done?

Coming from a student or any other person for that matter, this question was one that I was asked a lot and made little difference to me in how I responded. But this same question I had been asked by many people ever since I had made my decision, made me feel inadequate when it was asked by the Valedictorian of the school. I thought to myself that if she wants to know then there must be relevance to the point that people think that I should have chosen something else.

I was worried that perhaps my teaching style was not good enough, and perhaps I had chosen the wrong profession.