Star Teachers

I had a conversation with a star teacher this week. The conversation saddened me, as I have admired this teacher for years and her view on teaching in an urban setting has changed. The star teacher taught in an urban setting for almost 20 years. She was the teacher who took the classrooms no others wanted. The star teacher stood for the students, earning their trust, understanding each child's need and most of all educating the students within her classroom. The sorrowful part of the conversation was when the star teacher put down the students and race she once taught. I was astounded and called her on this. The conversation which followed was sad, but true. In the last couple of years of the star teacher's career, she was beaten by a student, robbed, and disrespected. She lost faith in the students she once loved. I look to the article by Haberman and wonder, could this star teacher have lost her way due to the lack of support in the school community. There was no sharing of ideas or collaboration. The star teachers voice was lost in the mayhem of the school. I believe in order to create a strong learning community you need not only the star teachers, but administrators as well.