The Teacher Within

If you are like me, you find yourself looking back on "the good old days," yearning for simpler times. You feel challenged to understand the forces of destruction that have violated our country. You grieve for the peacefulness that seems suddenly to have been snatched away from life as we knew it. And you wonder how you can make an impact in a world that seems seriously out of control. Even in such disturbing times there can come desperately needed rays of hope to remind us of the importance of caring for every precious human being we encounter. Surely one of these blessings is Nelda Toothman's The Teacher Within: Recognizing the Best in Children.

Those of us who became educators entered this field to make a difference in the lives of children. Given today's context, many of us have come to question the very possibility of doing so. Over the past decade the media have characterized the Nation's schools as seriously declining environments: reports of bullying, racial tensions, and escalating violence have become commonplace. Most teachers trying to do their jobs despite these trends must battle another growing distraction: the high stakes test mania. There is increasing top-down pressure for performance--the state threatens the district office personnel, who in turn pressure the principals, who pressure the teachers, who transmit the stress to students. Given these strains, increasing numbers of teachers grow dissatisfied with their lack of autonomy and creativity and move to change careers. Also, more talented and effective school principals forsake their leadership roles through early retirements, and there are fewer candidates seeking these administrative positions. These are times when growing children must learn how to be resilient-how to emerge from the very dangers, setbacks and uncertainties that tend to cripple others, to lead healthy and productive lives. Studies of such resilient children have shown that the most important factor in nearly every case was a supportive one-on-one relationship with a caring adult. What can we do when by and large students across our country are not experiencing the care, attention and nurturing that school personnel wish they could be providing? One answer is to learn from a master, to study how such life-strengthening support was supplied magnificently in the past.

Nelda Toothman is one of those extraordinarily gifted influencers. Each of her simple, compelling stories illustrates a particular principle of effective teaching. Reading her self-searching analysis of why each intervention worked, we are reminded that positively impacting others is not a trick, but a commitment to bringing out their best. We ponder how we can refashion our own stories of influencing those we work with and care about.

The Teacher Within comes just in time to touch our complex and troubling days with its refreshing ray of hope. It should be required reading for all of us who need to get back in touch with our prime reasons for being. Whether we are teachers, managers, coaches or parents, Nelda Toothman's introspection motivates us to rethink our own lives and behaviors, to analyze how we will respond to the challenges we face individually, in our homes, in our classrooms and in our nation.

Dr. Marilyn Katzenmeyer
Teacher, Educational Consultant, Co-author,
Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Helping Teachers Develop as Leaders, 2nd Edition,
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2001

NELDA TOOTHMAN

Educator...public leader...supervisor...wife...mother...grandmother...a lifetime of wisdom lies within these pages.

Nelda Toothman received her Bachelor's degree from Florida State University and her Master's degree from the University of South Florida. She is a certified trainer for Dr. Tom Gordon's Effectiveness Training for teachers, parents and leaders.

Nelda was a long-time teacher and school volunteer supervisor for the Polk County (Florida) School District. During that period she designed and facilitated training programs for educators and parents for numerous Florida school districts and state conferences.

Building on those experiences, she became an instructor for the Continuing Education Institute, Winter Park, FL. In this role she taught classes in Florida, Texas, New York, South Carolina and Virginia to more than 4,000 teachers and educational administrators.