Friday, October 6, 2023

It's a Climb: Future Teachers need GOOD BONES

Teachers, this day more than ever, need good bones

Maggie Smith's Poem “Good Bones”

Life is short, though I keep this from my children.
Life is short, and I’ve shortened mine
in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways,
a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways,
I’ll keep from my children.

The world is at least
fifty percent terrible, and that’s a conservative
estimate, though I keep this from my children.

For every bird, there is a stone thrown at a bird.
For every loved child, a child broken, bagged,
sunk in a lake. Life is short and the world,
is at least half terrible, and for every kind,
stranger, there is one who would break you,
though I keep this from my children.

I am trying to sell them the world. Any decent realtor,
walking you through a real shithole, chirps on
about good bones: This place could be beautiful,
right?
You could make this place beautiful.

Dear Sister and Brother Teachers, there is a great need for us out there today ~ we have to help our future teachers see the "Good Bones" in Teaching. My future teachers (currently in their field experiences) are sharing your tragic narratives in their journals. Let's be transparent, without a doubt ~ these are tough days! These are cry your heart out days! But in between, there are also these few blessed beautiful days; and so on behalf of my students, I'm begging that you be truthful/honest, but please don't forget to share your good teaching days. These brave new young ones, need (and want) to know the truth, but share your whole truth with them ~ remember the times when you too were filled with amazement.

Remember it is not our place to "Rain on their Parade". These (negative) narratives will ensure our present tragic teaching shortage will continue tenfold. Being consistently negative does not serve our future teachers well. Just like us ~ they need balance. No, indeed it is not the job it was in our day, but these young ones "want" to step up and walk in "our shoes". We do not need to turn them away.

They deserve (in realtor terms...) to hear about "The Good Bones" of teaching, even when the roof leaks, and the boiler is on its last legs. A good realtor will relay the "good bones". Working with Good Bones, our new future teachers can build it anew! I'm not going to "Rain on your parade". Way back in the late 70's my field experience teachers and host teachers showed the good bones of teaching to me. They left me with a feeling that “You could make this place beautiful.”

Respectfully, after 40 plus years, I still see GOOD BONES,

Dr. Jesse P. Turner

Badass Teacher
Good Bones Educator

Uniting to Save Our Schools

On the left is West Michigan State Univerity Good Bonres Brother Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig

If you like to listen to the tune that inspired my writing this Good Bones Morning, it is