Posted on: Friday, November 22, 2002

Teachers don't just teach

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

The invitation made it sound simple enough, even enlightening, perhaps inspiring: "Please join us on Tuesday, November 19 to discover first hand the rewards and challenges Hawai'i's public school teachers face in their classrooms."

As it turned out, the day spent walking in the shoes of a public school teacher was anything but simple. It might have been enlightening and inspiring, but it was so exhausting I couldn't really tell.

The Hawai'i State Teachers Association did the inviting. The program was called "Back to School Hawai'i Day," described as an opportunity for business people and public leaders to go from the boardroom (or in some cases, a newsroom) to the classroom. For those who chose to accept the challenge, it wasn't a day of sitting in the back of the class wearing a paper lei and taking passive note of what transpired. You had to stand and deliver.

I was fortunate to be assigned to a seventh-grade English classroom at Niu Valley Intermediate belonging to veteran teacher Bonnie Murton, who has a brand of tough love with her students (and with visiting journalists.)

"I don't know anything about being a teacher," I warned.

"Yes," she said, dismissing my reticence, "but you remember what it was like to be a student."

Mrs. Murton let me fly (or more accurately, stumble) solo for the most part, but she started each class by giving her students a grave warning. "If you're bad," she told the kids, "you'll deal with me, not Ms. Cataluna."

No one was bad.

Rewards? I was just glad that the students were polite enough not to roll their eyes at me. Perhaps the real rewards of being a public school teacher don't become obvious after just one day.

The challenges, however, are easy to spot right away.

The actual teaching part of being a teacher is complicated by all the other responsibilities a teacher has. Before "Can Johnny read?," there's "Where is Johnny? Why isn't he in class? Why is he late? Has he had breakfast? Did his parents sign the permission forms? Did he take home his progress reports? Where's his pencil? Where's his homework? Why does he have

his head on the desk? What's that he's hiding in his backpack?"

And that's just the first three minutes of class.

When people speak publicly about public schools, it's usually safer to avoid talking about the kids. You can bemoan the condition of the buildings, the lack of supplies, the impossible budget complaints, but to bring up the attitudes of the students is considered unkind.

But the truth is not all of the students are eager to be there and excited to learn. It's not the buildings or the school supplies or budget that holds them, sometimes tenuously, to their education.

It's the Mrs. Murtons.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.