I didn’t imagine I would wind up my 40th year as an educator under these circumstances. Public schools closed. PK-12 students and their teachers doing what they can to maintain some semblance of forward progress, or at least fend off regression. University classes moved to remote delivery. Teacher candidates on the very cusp of the onset of their professional careers wondering what the next 40 years will look like. It has all been very challenging.
The last time I taught at my previous university before moving into administration was the Spring of 2007. The last time I taught anything formally was in the Summer of 2008 when, for the 4th or 5th consecutive summer, I taught a six-credit course (recognized by NCCRS) on progressive education at Camp Treetops, a 100-year old children’s summer camp in Lake Placid. Treetops had been founded by two students and proteges of John Dewey. For a century, Treetops has been a living bastion of Deweyian thinking on how children learn best. (Here’s what I’ve written in the past about Camp Treetops.)
A wonderful educator I worked with at Treetops beginning in 1999 is Bob Tam. Bob has been a teacher at the Punahou School in Honolulu for quite some time. Bob served as Senior Camp Program Director my first seven summers at Camp before I assumed that role. He also served as a mentor to students in the course I taught as they completed assignments and clinical experiences. He is, simply put, the quintessential educator.
Bob’s son shared a story on Facebook about how Bob has adapted his teaching to the current situation. It is a great story that perfectly captures Bob and his sensibilities for teaching and learning. Even though you don’t know him, I thought it might bring a little brightness to your day and perhaps put a smile on your face.
Just click here to read about and hear Bob as he does what he has done for as long as I have know him (20 years now…) and longer, providing his 6th graders with an engaging and stimulating experience, even in very challenging times.
I miss seeing Bob regularly and benefitting from his teacherly wisdom, and when I listen to his story and think about our summers in the Adirondacks, I miss teaching too.