Finding Real Teachers

by The Grauer School on January 30, 2012

School parent Jim Stuart (Mikayla and Savanah) suggested that, for a sabbatical, I go out and find some new teachers, which sounded like a great idea. So, I’ve been doing a lot of that over the past six months.

I took an open approach:  I had no agenda and no idea who those teachers would be. Strangely, in every single case, I did not know I had found a new teacher until they had been teaching me for a while and our correspondence was advancing.  So I didn’t seek out new teachers so much as they dawned on me.  Have you ever had that experience?  Perhaps teacher is a role that, in the truest sense, cannot be assigned.  It is a relationship—a noble one, I believe—that is developed once you are open to it.

I’ve loved rediscovering what it means to be a real teacher.  My teachers over these months have been an eclectic group, to be sure.  Here are some of them:

Deborah Meier (author, widely acknowledged as the founder of the small schools movement, former principal)

Roger White Eyes (Native American teacher)

Diane Ravitch (NYU research professor of education, best selling author, former US  Asst. Secretary of Education)

Doug Katz (Marketing and Leadership expert, author, Grauer School consultant)

Rick Hanson (author of Buddha’s Brain, neuroscientist)

Sean Hauze (Grauer School teacher who is patiently showing me how I will need to communicate in the future)

I have had deepening, extended, back and forth correspondence with all of these fascinating teachers, and quite a few others.  All of them have directly helped me advance my work and thinking about great education and what it means to be a teacher.  I am amazed that these gifted people were right there in my path, and I am forever grateful to them.  Who in life can we ever be more grateful for than a great teacher?

There were also some other, negative teachers—people I learned a lot from by virtue of my non-admiration or disagreement with their teachings–but I won’t name names.  There are also a great many people who could have been truly great teachers for me had I taken more time to pursue this.

Michelle Rhee is another good teacher, and I had beneficial correspondence with her team. (They invited me onto their task force.)  They also posted a website contest to find the best definition of teaching.  Here was my entry:  “Teaching is the study of the student.”

Being a student again was great—it was like flying.  And it made me see that my real teachers were not only those whose work and minds I admired but those whose interest in my mind and work was most genuine.  It’s mutual: teachers and students trade places all the time.  I am now convinced that a real teacher must be in equal part a student.  Just learning that one concept would be a great takeaway for a sabbatical, but I got far more out of it.  Ask  me!  In fact, at the bottom of this column, you can even blog with me.  Please do!

Over the past six months, the school parents, teachers, board and administration have supported this fertile time of regeneration for me with considerable sacrifice. Also, over the past six months I have come to see more clearly than ever how extraordinary our faculty is:  they have a level of caring and a level of listening to students I’ve never seen elsewhere—they are all teachers for me. I don’t even know how to start showing how deeply grateful I am for all of the above, but I am committed to trying.

I wish you all a beautiful second semester,

Dr. Stuart Grauer

Middle School Science Fair

by The Grauer School on December 13, 2011

Do you know any families that would be wonderful additions to our Grauer “family?”  If so, please invite them to our last Open House of the year on Sunday, January 8th from 10:30AM-2:00PM. Our Ambassadors will be giving tours approximately every 20-minutes.  We get our best referrals from our current families, so we look forward to meeting anyone you refer to our Open House.

Congratulations to Shockwave Robotics!

December 13, 2011

Congratulations to our Shockwave Robotics Team ~ Going to Worlds! We would like to congratulate Coach Morgan Brown and our Grauer Shockwave Robotics Team for qualifying for the World Championships at this weekend’s Los Angeles Regional Tournament.  There are only two ways to guarantee a spot in the World Championships: 1) Capture the 1st Place at [...]

Read the full article →

Food Drive Bins Have Arrived

November 29, 2011

A recent US Census report found that there are 49.1 million Americans living below the poverty level—that is 1 in 6 Americans!  As we give thanks for all that we have during this Holiday season, we are collecting food donations for the North County Food Bank to help others that are not as fortunate.  Starting [...]

Read the full article →

Middle School Activities

November 29, 2011

Welcome back from your Thanksgiving holidays!  ‘Tis the season for middle school-wide activities. This Friday, 12/2, 6th – 8th graders will be participating in our campus component of the Scripps National Spelling Bee Competition.  While the initial part of the competition will be held on a grade by grade basis, the finalists from each grade [...]

Read the full article →

Conner’s Cause

November 29, 2011

Conner’s Cause for Children is a small, but important San Diego based non-profit organization founded over fifteen years ago in memory of Conner Champ, whose family was the first of thousands who have been helped by Conner’s Cause. Each year, Conner’s Cause for Children provides critical financial assistance to over 400 families struggling to cover the [...]

Read the full article →

Jerusalem Peacemakers

November 28, 2011

GRAUER SCHOOL HOSTS FILM SCREENING AND VISIT BY JERUSALEM PEACEMAKERS The Grauer School will host a visit by the Jerusalem Peacemakers Eliyahu McLean and Sheik Ghassan Manasra during the film screening of “Globalized Soul” on Tuesday, December 6, 2011 beginning at 6:30 pm on the campus located at 1500 S. El Camino Real in Encinitas; [...]

Read the full article →

Educator of the Year Dana Abplanalp-Diggs

November 21, 2011

GRAUER SCHOOL PRINCIPAL RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS ELLIE AWARD AS “EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR 2011” Encinitas, CA, November 16, 2011—-The Annual Encinitas Ellie Awards sponsored by the New Encinitas Business Network bestowed a variety of awards including the outstanding “Business of the Year” in a select variety of categories to the New Encinitas and El Camino Real [...]

Read the full article →

Congratulations Vanessa Smith!

November 17, 2011

Vanessa Smith was honored last week by the North County Philanthropy Council at their annual Volunteer Awards Luncheon for her outstanding services to Grauer School over the years. The Luncheon honored the men & women who give their time, treasure & talent to help others in North County. Vanessa was accompanied by Grauer School Board [...]

Read the full article →

TEDx Conference – Nov. 20th

November 17, 2011

The Grauer School will be participating in the inaugural TEDx Youth Conference being held at Canyon Crest Academy this Sunday, November 20.  TED (Technology/Entertainment/Design) is a nonprofit organization created in 1984 that dedicates itself to “Ideas Worth Spreading” by collecting some of the world’s foremost thinkers, doers, and dreamers in fields ranging from science and [...]

Read the full article →