What Teachers Make

Taylor Mali is a high school teacher, and a slam poet. His poems are in praise of teaching, and are powerful, inspirational, and motivating. What makes a teacher? What makes a good teacher? What makes a great teacher? Passion! There needs to be passion in the teacher, passion in the students, passion in the classroom environment, for an effective result. I think that Taylor’s poems are an inspirational gift to both teachers and students, trying to excel through their education career.

One of Taylor Mali’s most popular works is a teacher appreciation poem titles, What Teachers Make.  It starts off talking about teacher salary, but quickly shifts to what teachers make, not how much. And while the poem is a fascinating read, I feel it is even more powerful when heard, as in the following video.

Go ahead and watch the video, it is only 3 minutes long and is well worth its time. Then come back and read the quote of the ending part again.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids wonder,

I make them question.

I make them criticize.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them write, write, write.

And then I make them read.

I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely

beautiful

over and over and over again until they will never misspell

either one of those words again.

I make them show all their work in math.

And hide it on their final drafts in English.

I make them understand that if you got this (brains)

then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you

by what you make, you give them this (the finger).

Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:

I make a difference! What about you?

This poem is what I believe to be true. Love what you do, and Never stop learning. With knowledge in your mind, and passion in your heart – your limits are what you let them be.

So, do you make a difference?