Dear Michael Josesphson and the Josephson Institute,

Mr. Josephson recently spoke at Cal State Long Beach within the last few months. With his words I was moved, buying into the message he spoke of.

Reading this past commentary, "What teachers make", I can't help but be reminded at how similar it is to Taylor Mali's poem on "What Teachers Make". Being in academia, we teach the ethics behind correctly siting one's work and not to pass off another's words as your own. Whether or not the words are the same, maybe you, or your team (whoever actually wrote, "What Teachers Make") should relearn this rule, because if more people catch you trying to pass off messages that aren't originally yours, as yours, then your credibility could be lost, as it just has with me.

I really believed in the messages of the Josephson Institute and I truly enjoy reading the commentaries. I just wish the hypocracy of preaching such beautiful words/messages and inappropriately taking them as your own be sited correctly, and that credit be given when it is due.

Can you please try harder next time.

George

P.S. Here's the link to Mr. Mali's articulate performance: http://youtube.com/results?search_query=taylor+mali. I wish I came up with something as powerful as this too.

I wish politicians would take heed to these words of wisdom and look at their campaign chests. Are they really looking at the right problem?

This commentary is based on a parable of a dialogue about the impact of teaching inspired by verse by poet Taylor Mali circulating on e-mail distribution lists.

Although I loved the premise – a teacher responding to a critic with a declaration of the vital things teachers do – I wanted to stress different things and state them in different language than the version a staffer sent me last year, which had no attribution.

You will see that the tone and content of my version and Mr. Mali’s are quite different, but the core idea is definitely Mr. Mali’s.

An alert listener directed us to Mr Mali’s website (www.taylormali.com), in which Mali acknowledges he wrote the poem in 1999. Mr. Mali is not only a gifted poet and philosopher (as well as a great advocate of teachers), he is a generous man with sound values about the importance of getting credit. Here is what he says about the poem on his website:

"I am well aware that 'What Teachers Make,' a poem I wrote in 1999, has been elevated/reduced to the level of Inspirational Cyber Spam. It started happening shortly after I posted an unattributed draft of the poem on this very website.

Since the poem appeared on my website, I figured my name was unnecessary. But I was wrong. I suspect the text of the poem got copied, pasted, and sent by well-meaning teachers and fans. Soon enough, the poem became anonymous, and people began to edit, alter, and 'sanitize' it. There are, to my knowledge, at least five different versions of the poem out there circulating. All of them are anonymous.

The poem has taken on a life of its own. Thomas Friedman, the New York Times columnist, quoted one of the anonymous versions in its entirety as part of his Yale graduation speech in 2003. This led to a quotation by Harvey Mackay, the syndicated business columnist. National Public Radio did a story about the adventures of the poem in 2004.

Am I disappointed not to have received credit for writing this poem that has inspired so many? Used to be. But the truth will always come out in the end. And if I had to choose between inspiring teachers anonymously or not inspiring them at all, I would choose anonymous inspiration every time."

You can see Mr. Mali delivering his poem very passionately at:
http://cellfish.com/video/110451/What-Do-Teachers-Really-Make-Taylor-Mali-Explains)

So that he gets full credit for what he wrote, here is the full text of the poem published on Mr. Mali’s website:

What Teachers Make

By Taylor Mali

He says the problem with teachers is, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"
He reminds the other dinner guests that it’s true what they say about
teachers: Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.

I decide to bite my tongue instead of his
and resist the temptation to remind the other dinner guests
that it’s also true what they say about lawyers.

Because we’re eating, after all, and this is polite company.

"I mean, you’re a teacher, Taylor," he says.
"Be honest. What do you make?"

And I wish he hadn’t done that
(asked me to be honest)
because, you see, I have a policy
about honesty and ass-kicking:
if you ask for it, I have to let you have it.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honor
and an A- feel like a slap in the face.

How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall in absolute silence.

No, you may not work in groups.
No, you may not ask a question.
Why won’t I let you get a drink of water?
Because you’re not thirsty, you’re bored, that’s why.

I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:

I hope I haven’t called at a bad time,
I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today.
Billy said, "Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don’t you?"
And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.

I make parents see their children for who they are
and what they can be.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids wonder.
I make them question.
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write, write, write.
And then I make them read.
I make them spell definitely, beautiful, definitely, beautiful, definitely, beautiful over and over and over again until they will never misspell either one of those words again.

I make them show all their work in math
And hide it on their final drafts in English.
I make them understand that if you got this (brain)
then you follow this (heart), and if someone ever tries to judge you
by what you make, you give them this (finger).

Let me break it down for you so you know what I say is true:
I make a goddamn difference! What about you?

As a teacher, I needed to read this, and I will certainly keep it close at hand to read when things aren't going as well as I think they should be.

Further to my comment earlier, I just feel that to be fair to Michael, although he didn't acknowledge the original source in his commentary (for which he has apologized) he didn't actually suggest in that commentary that the story was his own invention, as George seems to think, he simply told the story. However, thank you for sharing the original poem with us.

Thank you - from someone who loves, respects and is inspired by what teachers do each day for my kids.

Thank you so much! As a teacher who more often than not feels unappreciated, it's wonderful to hear some support! We have the most important job in the world. Without us, there would be no other professions. Thanks again for your wonderful message.

Can you imagine what a different world we would live in if every person who earned over one million dollars a year contributed just 1% of his/her annual salary to a fund for Teachers. It would definitely be beautiful!

We can only hope that George (who is in "academia") does not teach his students to write as he does--incorrectly using the word siting (instead of citing) twice and misspelling hypocrisy. His letter is so poorly written that I doubt he is a teacher.

I enjoyed the original poem by Mr. Mali. It is more powerful than the sanitized version.

Once again Michael has proven he is a man of integrity. Once he learned of his error, he made it right! Thank you Michael for being the example you are, and thank you Taylor Mali for being able to put into words what so many people think about our teachers!
Semper Fidelis...

This is absolutely marvelous, fantastic. I mean I am lost for words. I am not a professional teacher, but as a pastor, I thought I had been "teaching." I took time to read, read and re-read through this and then listened to Taylor Mali as he delivered his poem.

Then I decided I will learn, and I will really begin to TEACH, and when I teach, I will teach like a REAL TEACHER!

God bless Michael Josephson, God bless the Josephson Institute and all those working there, and God bless Mr. Taylor Mali.

George, George, George...

The spell check and punctuation checker features on your computer are useful tools, even for those in "academia". Can you please try harder next time? (Note question mark).

Don't you think your message would have been better served by simply saying: "Dear MJ, here's a link to the author of that very inspirational teacher story you cited recently."
I'd respect that.

This story is right on the mark! I became a teacher to make a difference. Sometimes with all the stress put on us about test scores etc. I need to step back and remember what a wonderful gift the opportinty to make a difference in a child's life really is!
Thank you for the great service you offer Michael.

At age 68, I am nearing the end of my career teaching "at risk" students in the public system. Michael's response to George's criticism is the kind of example we continually search for to demonstrate for our kids what integrity and responsibility look like. Thank you, Michael, and thank you, Taylor Mali, for reminding me that I have made a difference.
Larry

As a teacher, I totally love this one. This is why you can't treat education as a commercial product and the teachers as manufacturers. We need people who understand this to be improving our system. Most teachers want effective programs to teach, and like this teacher, let them inspire and move their kids!

Last year I had the opportunity to attend a reunion at the first school in which I began teaching 35 years ago. How humbled I was when students that I had not seen for 30 years told me things that I had done or said that had been important to them - things that they have remembered all these years.

I returned home from that experience convinced that teaching is a worthy calling and that the impact left on a child will be an indelible mark with the power to change a life forever.

Thank you, Michael, for your transparency and for your integrity in the way in which you have responded to those who offer criticism. Please keep inspiring us to reach to be our best as we touch young lives.

My husband, who is a true man of character, and I have dedicated our lives to education for almost 30 years, and like many others, have given far more time and money than was required because we wanted to do the best possible for our students. He made the mistake of supporting the best man for superintendent in an election. He won but later the man who lost got into office and has turned our lives into a living hell. With a false accusation of sexual harassment from an employee who was about to be fired and a kangaroo court of an inquisition, he blackmailed my husband into resigning or he would release the lie to the media and take away his teaching certificate. AEA was no help.
Teachers do not leave large buildings and monuments for legacies. They can only leave their lives well lived and their reputation of character. This superintendent, who ironically, pushes the Character Counts movement and his blind sheep (board) who follow him, will not admit that the accusation and the firing was a lie and mistake, even though now the truth has come out that he did indeed make a mistake. His reputation (he is a church deacon as well as an educational leader) and his effort to protect himself from legal fallout is more important to him than destroying our family, our lives and our legacy with his hypocritical
retaliation. I am sorry to say that there are many educators out there whose character falls far below some of our "worse" students.
Does character or does political power count? Does doing the honest thing or doing the legally safe thing count? No wonder it is hard to teach character to our students when we have character-depleted leaders in education. Didn't character used to be synonymous with the profession of educator? At least we thought so when I was growing up. Oh, if it were only true today!

Hello all. This is Taylor Mali, the author of the poem. Just wanted to chime in and mention that I've been alerted to the hubbub. The matter was handled with the utmost integrity. I am honored.