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Called to teach

by Doug Siemens ’84

I was minding my own business in my special education classroom at Newton High School when the phone rang. It was Barry Bartel asking me if I would be willing to have a conversation about being the new director of elementary teacher education for Bethel.

I said, “Barry, that’s interesting, but I’ve never taught elementary school.” He said, “Yeah, but you’re certified ‘K-12 Special Education,’ aren’t you?”

Teaching is a calling. People are called to teach. We know people are called to teach because it’s not a job you choose for the money. You can’t give yourself million-dollar bonuses like you were a Wall Street investment banker. Before my interview at Bethel, a friend said, “Now don’t laugh when they show you your starting salary.”

I was glad he warned me because it gave me a chance to catch my breath and think about service and commitment and my own calling. Here I was, a male teacher with no elementary teaching experience, being called to fill a position that has traditionally been filled by women, for less money than I was making as a high school teacher. I didn’t know if I could do this job but I knew I had to try. So the 2008-09 school year finds me in a new job.

Actually, that is one of the great things about education: Every fall you get to begin again. It’s a new school year with new students and all the preparation, hope and excitement that go with it. Teachers always look their best those few days before school begins. We’re fresh and rested.

In this new job, I am taking what I already know about teaching and continuing to build on that.

I believe in public education. I believe that all children can learn. I believe that one of the most important things a teacher can do is to build a relationship with his or her students because students really don’t care what you know until they know that you care.

At Fall Festival this year, I saw Raylene Hinz-Penner, one of my former Bethel English professors, and she said someone had once told her you can’t really teach anyone anything. The best you can do is to provide opportunities for them to learn. I believe that. And that’s what I do. I am not the vessel of knowledge. I am the facilitator who provides opportunities to learn.

Recently, Kansas State University Professor of Anthropology Michael Wesch was recognized as the United States Professor of the Year. He’s famous for his YouTube video “A Vision of Students Today” and some of the innovative simulations he’s used in his teaching. In his acceptance speech, he cited these words from his wife Sarah, who is also a teacher, as a part of the recipe for his success: “Love your students and they will love you back.” I believe that, too.

I believe Bethel College attracts the best and brightest students. I have been astounded by the commitment and professionalism our teacher education students demonstrate. I am having a new “Bethel experience” now as the teacher instead of the student.

What does God have to do with this? God has everything to do with this. God is in my students, and the cooperating teachers and administrators who allow them in their classes for field experience and student teaching practice. God is in my 20-plus years of teaching experience in Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico, even when I did not attend church regularly. God is in my vision that helps me see new things I can do to strengthen and grow the teacher education program.

I want to build even closer ties with the strongest teachers in our district.

I want to recruit more men to teach in elementary school.

I want to throw some rocks at the invisible glass wall that separates Hesston College education students from Bethel College.

I want to start an education club on campus.

I want to help lead the charge to teach beyond No Child Left Behind and return creativity, critical thinking, wonder and fun to the classroom. I want Bethel elementary education students to be well prepared and ready to think for themselves in their classrooms.

It’s a new beginning filled with excitement and the best is yet to come.

This piece is excerpted from the contribution of Doug Siemens ’84 to the Feb. 1 worship service at Bethel College Mennonite Church, the “birthing” part of a series on “Sharing the Seasons of Life.” Doug reports that, by “wonderful coincidence,” Raylene Hinz-Penner ’70 was in the congregation that morning. The next day, “Angus, my 5th-grade son who does not care too much for school, came home and asked me what I had done at work today to make school better. Apparently he’s going to hold me to it.”