TAYLOR MALI

When students have thanked me in the past for being their teacher, I have always felt that it was actually my love for the art of teaching they were speaking to.

One of the most important things that teachers teach students is you, you can work harder. You are mentally tougher than you think.

In many ways, 'What Teachers Make: In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World' is just one big thank-you note to my teachers. The book is dedicated to my fifth and sixth grade English teacher, Dr. Joseph D'Angelo, a massive force of erudition, martial artistry, culture, and love.

The poem 'What Teachers Make' is not without its detractors. This one person wrote to me and said: 'Gee, Mr. Mali. You don't possibly have a teacher-God complex, do you?' And that was the first time I'd ever heard of that expression. So, yeah, I'm sure I have a teacher-God complex.

No graduation speaker will ever tell you that the future is anything but uncertain. It never is. But graduations need not only be obsessed with looking ahead; a graduation can be a day on which we turn back and trace our steps to see how we ended up where we are.

I grew up writing thank-you notes. Real, honest-to-goodness, pen-and-ink, stamped and posted letters. More than simple habit, it's about what the commitment to expressing your thoughts and feelings in writing says about the character of the writer. About the joy such notes bring to the reader.

If you've ever been to a poetry slam, you know that the highest scoring emotion is self-righteous indignation: how dare you judge me. So in that way, the poem, 'What Teachers Make,' is an absolutely formulaic slam poem designed to allow me to get up on my soap box and say, 'Let me tell you what really makes me angry.'

The best teachers that I had were always the ones I never wanted to disappoint.

Teachers today are breaking down obstacles, finding innovative ways to instill old lessons, proving that greatness can be found in everyday places.

Say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks the determination with which you believe it.

By the time these students enter the workforce, many of the jobs they will apply for ill be in industries that don't even exist yet. That's a hard future to prepare someone for. Teachers have their sights set on the real goal: not to produce Ivy League graduates, but to encourage the development of naturally curious, confident, flexible, and happy learners who are ready for whatever the future has in store.

Everything I do is kind of a lesson, even if I am the only person who learns it.

I have a policy about honesty and ass-kicking, which is, if you ask for it, then I have to let you have it.

Falling in love is like owning a dog.

Who can teach when there are such lessons to be learned

A poem is the perfect place to celebrate imperfection and exult in the ways you fall short of being the person you want to be.

Certainly teachers themselves can do a better job of letting the world know how hard their profession is, but frankly, they have real work to do and a lot of it, so they don't have a whole lot of free time on their hands.

You want to know what I make? I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional Medal of Honor, and I can make a...

It is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY. You have to speak with it, too.

That's what teaching is, the art of explanation: presenting the right information in the right order in a memorable way.

I implore you, I entreat you and I challenge you to speak with conviction. To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks the determination with which you believe it. Because contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker, it is not enough these days to simply question authority—you've got to speak with it too.

Simply put, the best teachers are the ones you work your tail off for because in the end you just don't want them to think any less of you. You want and need their approval.

Here, let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true: Teachers? Teachers make a difference! Now what about you?

Teachers shouldn't make the mistake of always thinking they're the smartest person in the room

Education is the miracle; I'm just the worker.