TEACHING TO LEARN After 20 years of teaching college students, I have learned: First, I am no judge of human potential. My batting average for predicting the success of my students is so low as to be unmeasurable. Some of those I thought would set the world on fire haven't even struck a match, and some whom I considered to be wet ashes are glowing steadily. One student who enrolled in a beginning writing course told me he wanted to become a professional writer. When his papers began coming in, they were unbelievably bad I called him in for a conference. Seeking a lead into a delicate subject, I asked about his background. He told me he had dropped out of school at age 14, had bummed across the country, joined the army, spent a lot of time in libraries and, after his discharge, had passed the General Education Development Test as a substitute for a high school diploma. He was admitted to college. But he had missed at least four years of putting words on paper and the gap was showing. I decided to postpone my advice for at least another semester. I'm glad I did. He has made a living in freelance writing for the last 15 years. Second, I have learned there is a vast difference between criticising and producing. It takes very little skill to point out the weaknesses in someone else's work. And that's how most teachers of writing spend their time and energy. I was reminded of that a year ago when a book manuscript of mine ended in the hands of an editor who had been one of my students. It came back with a contract on condition I would do a rewrite. I he editor outlined the kind of changes he wanted and then wrote, I feel as though I am reproducing your class notes in this letter. Trouble was. lie was right. The very things that I had thundered at him I had failed to do. Third, I have learned that teaching can become an ego trip. The temptation to brag, He was a student of mine, is almost overwhelming. It implies that I am par- tially responsible for his success, or that his being successful means that I am a good teacher. A teacher may have students who become famous in spite of him. I know that the only credit I can take for a student's success is that I was not a roadblock along his way. The most important function I have is to encourage each student, to blow gently on whatever flickering flame of creativity burns within him —not hard enough to extinguish it, just to make it glow a little stronger. ALVERA MICKELSUN
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