About "The Big City" by Anna Belle Staley

This chapter is excerpted from the journal which Anna Belle Staley kept throughout her career. Ms. Staley is now 91 years old, but because of this journal, she still has a vivid portrayal of her early years as a teacher.

This chapter captures Ms. Staley's enthusiasm for her profession, and includes samples of her challenges and triumphs.

She is honest in acknowledging certain struggles she faced as a novice teacher. For example, she notes "history was a burden and I'm surprised the children didn't rebel. Even so, we made it." It is somewhat ironic that she saw history as a burden, since her journal is now a historic document!

In the third paragraph, we see that Anna Belle did not build her professional strengths by inheriting "gimmicks and techniques" from others or even by saving her own lesson plans. Instead, she found that "New ways of presenting information for pupil interest, and the honing of one's own skills must develop and change." Indeed, Ms. Staley was a creative teacher who brought out the creativity in her charges.

In the fourth paragraph, we learn that Ms. Staley recognized the importance of the "personal touch" and that, when necessary, she would sit alongside a pupil in order to "open the door of understanding."

Ms. Staley adds an important human touch by including anecdotes on how her innovative approaches were received by her peers and administrators. She often heard the refrain "It's never been done before," but never let that stop her.

Indeed, we see that Anna Belle's qualities were recognized when a principal urged her to speak up in meetings: "You have good ideas and I want you to contribute to the discussions." Detailed encounters like this are often lost to memory, but fortunately, Ms. Staley recorded these in her journal.

This chapter includes a wonderfully detailed description of a project in which the pupils worked together to create a miniature model of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. And, she includes this sentence, "I'll never forget the precision and accuracy demonstrated by a slower pupil in constructing the harp, perfectly shaped of balsa wood, colored strings, and even the pedals." This is a concrete example of the way Ms. Staley brought out the best in each of her pupils.

When Ms. Staley answers her rhetorical question, "What is a classroom?" we see her teaching philosophy spelled out. Indeed, this chapter [and Ms. Staley's entire journal] has been an inspiration to many, including "moi," your "web master."

While most of us have not kept lifelong journals, we can still learn more about the craft of memoir by studying Anna Belle's chapter. It is a personal account which records the ups and downs of teaching and closes with some philosophical conclusions.

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