Frank T. Pool

Living through this summer’s Texas Heat Dome and not up for outdoor activities, I’ve spent some of my retirement days substitute teaching in different schools. The work is fairly easy, the money is adequate and the satisfactions are sometimes great.

I substituted for one teacher who didn’t have any lesson plans in an English class. There was a teaching assistant in the room first period, and she assured me that kids could complete what they’d been working on. Well, they’d finished that, and from what I could tell, they had not been asked to do much.

I found a young teacher who knew the course material and who gave me a printout I could photocopy, so the afternoon classes did a bit more work. The kids were polite and cooperative; I could have pushed them gently to accomplish better things.

The problem of low expectations is pervasive, particularly in schools where the parents are less involved. Often parents don’t realize how little their kids are doing. Their students don’t get in trouble, and they pass their classes, so parents think everything is going fine until their kids don’t pass state-mandated tests.

Another day I was called across town to substitute for a fellow I knew who was teaching Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate senior English. I’ve worked with him and for him, teaching his class a couple years back when he used up his accumulated sick leave to be home with his wife and newborn first child. The district does not have paternity leave.

I was struck by the attractiveness of the students in that class. They were good-looking young people, and these were students who were generally high achieving, from much more affluent circumstances.

I gave them time to work on a project online, then asked them what they were working on. I asked a follow-up question or two to let them show what they knew, and then I moved on to other kids. Everybody responded. Last year, I had some classes with many students who simply would not answer when called upon.

It’s a great joy to work with smart and engaged students. Teachers who have to struggle with student misbehavior and absenteeism think honors teachers have it easy, but the hard work comes elsewhere. Classes are fun, but grading and commenting on all the work they do is a grinding obligation that leads to evenings and weekends of work.

I’ve encountered another divide that cuts across the ones of class and race and income.

This divide is between most students and the ones who require special education services. Sometimes there are teaching assistants to assist with these students. Last year, I worked with two good ones and one who did not finish out the year. Federal law and state policy require that students be mainstreamed into classroom settings if it is at all possible

Often the special education students are bright enough, but they can’t spell or read or write the way others do. Some have ADHD or are on the autism spectrum. Many that I have taught were absolute delights, and others had issues that made them harder to reach.

There are some people, however, whose disabilities are so great that they cannot function in a classroom. Schools have special units for these people. My wife works in one of these units for elementary children. Not every teacher could do that. Sometimes the gains seem so minimal, and everything accomplished is hard earned.

I spent several days substituting for a teacher in such a unit at a high school. A quick glance at the students showed that they were different. Most were nonverbal or had limited language skills or challenges to their mobility.

We were blessed to have several wonderful teaching assistants in the room, and a useless one. Some kids had an assistant assigned specifically to them, though that assistant, if good, would also help with other students. These assistants earn about half of what a teacher does, and though they don’t have to do as much bureaucratic documentation and paperwork, they are also right in the thick of the teaching and care for students.

Most of the students in this unit were very sweet kids. One boy would bring his laptop computer to me to log him in. Another would strike up conversations, though I couldn’t always follow his language. Many of them would give a thumbs-up and a smile. They ended the day by dancing, which gave them some physical activity. I saw a lot of joy among them then.

A few were deeply lost in their own worlds. One had a meltdown and had to have a helmet put on to protect her head from banging against the wall. While that happened, I took the others to the library as the teaching assistant worked with the kid. The librarian was kind, and the kids were wonderful and checked out books with pictures.

Some people will require attention and protection all their lives. In the past there have been terrible instances of neglect and abuse. These kids were spared that — the adults in the school are wonderful, thoughtful and caring people — but I worry about what will happen when the young adults age out of the schools. We’re trying to prepare them for the most simple jobs. If they’re lucky, they might get one they can do and enjoy.

What is the value of human lives outside the structures of social and economic advancement? Sometimes we divide ourselves through our own choices. Sometimes people are divided from each other through nobody’s choice. It’s easy to turn away from those most in need.

This world is full of all kinds of people. I’m glad to meet all kinds of them.