I am a Pencil, by Sam Swope

Passage Analysis

“But Mrs. Scalise dismissed that as a red herring, pointing out the extra time wouldn’t help a poor teacher improve test scores. ‘A good teacher, a teacher like Mrs. Duncan, can cover everything,’ she said. ‘Besides, you have to realize that assembly programs include language arts, visual art, planning, public speaking. All of which are terribly important. And I’m a firm believer that talent’s innate. Unless you give it a chance to show itself, you’ll waste it. So you want to grab it. You have to expose children to everything because we don’t know who might respond” (Swope, p147).

I believe that success is achieved when a person has faith in themselves (which often comes from the faith others have in them). As a teacher, I must have faith in my students and believe they can be successful, despite their environment or obstacles they may face. Mrs. Scalise has unconditional faith in her students. She knows that by providing them with the proper tools and resources, her students will thrive. Mrs. Scalise believes that “a good teacher can cover everything” (Swope, p147). In our education classes we have learned that as educators, we must be interdisciplinary and infuse different subjects together. We’ve been taught to essentially “cover everything”. I think this is an important tool to help students succeed. Throughout the book, Mr. Swope is excited when he is able to incorporate numerous subjects into one lesson as he did in the Island Project.

Covering an array of subjects in one lesson, Mrs. Scalise believes, displays the opportunity for talent to arise. She states, “Talent is innate, unless you give it a chance to show itself, you’ll waste it” She believes assembly programs include many important topics, such as visual art, planning, public speaking and language arts. (Swope, p147). If I have mastered the tools for teaching, I must help my students recognize their creativity and imagination by furnishing them with the tools for success. Providing students with the tools for creativity and imagination will allow for a variety of unique ideas and will demonstrate the innate talents of each individual student.

Imagination is the foundation of the assembly programs the students work on. The students utilize their imagination to its fullest potential when constructing the plays, acting out parts and creating sets. I think Mrs. Scalise recognizes the power of imagination and has faith in the thoughts, feelings and ideas of her students because when she observes the programs, she sees perfection.

Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” This is what I believe to be the purpose of education; to excite the mind and enhance creativity, to spur the imagination, inspire change and most importantly, enable others to fulfill their dreams. And this is what I believe Mrs. Scalise and Mr. Swope embody as educators.


Discussion Questions

Analysis
Compare the teaching philosophies, strategies and attitudes of the students’ three teachers throughout the story. How does Mr. Swope’s relationship differ between each teacher?

Mrs. Duncan smiled at her students. She taught them the importance of doing their duty, living up to their responsibilities, and treating their classmates decently. She had faith in her students and believed everyone to be smart, talented, well-adjusted and sweet. Mr. Swope adored Mrs. Duncan! Mrs. Melvern did not believe in her students. She did try to inspire them and she disliked many of her students. Mr. Swop could not stand her! Mrs. Hinton was gentle, steady, unflappable and inscrutable. She adored her students and provided them with love and care. Although Mr. Swope like Mrs. Hinton, he felt she kept a distance from him.

Application
Throughout the story, Mr. Swope is surprised to discover concealed personality traits of his students. Looking at Mr. Swope’s experience in getting to know his students, what are ways in which you feel can you truly know your students as a teacher?

Mr. Swope eventually discovers that Su Jung has a passion for music, which explains why she would constantly glance at the clock during their conferences (she was anxious to attend band class). As a teacher, I think it is important to truly listen to your students in an empathic manner. Write down things the say, record their conversations and seek to discover the reasons for why the behave in the way the do, rather than simply labeling them.

Evaluation
In what ways did Mr. Swope shape Fatma’s perception of him? How could he have changed his relationship with Fatma?

Mr. Swope recognized his dislike of Fatma’s writing and Fatma recognized this as well. I think Mr. Swop should have tried to perceive Fatma’s personality and writing in a more positive light. Doing so could have drastically changed his relationship with Fatma; perhaps she would’ve been more willing to open up to him if she knew he liked her!