- What must students learn on their own to reinforce what we did in this lesson or to in-
troduce the next topic (HOMEWORK)?____ - What topics come next (FOLLOW-UP)?
Tomorrow ___
Day After ____
SECTION F: BECOMING A TEACHER 3: WHAT MAKES SOMEONE
SUCCESSFUL AS A TEACHER?
I Will Not Let the Wheelchair Be an Excuseby Dennis Mooney
When Dennis was 21, he broke his neck during a diving accident. Since then, he has moved
around using a wheelchair. As a teenager, Dennis was an indifferent student. After he was in-
jured, he had to relearn the ordinary tasks of daily living and figure out what he wanted to do with
his life. He feels that the two things which have been his greatest assets in becoming a teacher are
his memories of being an indifferent student and his experience of overcoming his disability. He
remembers how other student teachers complained during seminars how hard it was to learn how
to teach. Dennis never complained. For him, “teaching a classroom of teenagers is difficult,” but
“it is easy compared to being paralyzed.” When he wrote this essay, Dennis was 34 years old and
in his second year as a high school teacher.—Alan Singer
As a high school and college student I was academically strong but very lazy. I was the same
way in swimming. My coach thought if I took time to do my strokes properly and practice I
could be good, but I never liked to practice that much. I did not have the determination. I
had attended a community college on and off for 2 years before I had my accident while div-
ing. My dream was to make lots of money, but I was never motivated to achieve it.
After the accident, I was in the hospital for 9 months—2 weeks in an intensive care unit
and the rest of the time in rehabilitation. At the start, I figured my paralysis was temporary.
When I was first injured I could not move anything from my neck down. Slowly, I started to
get movement back in my arms and the doctors were surprised. When you cannot move
your arms up and down, and then you can, it is a big thing. My friends used to hold a soda
can up for me to sip from and one day I lifted it myself; I was so excited I let go of the can and
I spilt it all over my lap. I thought the progress would continue, but at a certain point it
stopped. In occupational therapy they were trying to teach me how to do things differently,
and I kept telling them that I did not have to learn because I was not going to be in a wheel-
chair for the rest of my life. I planned to take the police officers exam.
Today, many young people with paralysis wait for a miracle cure instead of going on with
their lives. Part of the problem is that they are released from rehabilitation programs much
too quickly. The idea is that people should resume their regular lives, but you cannot go
back to who you were before. You may be physically ready for the outside world, but that
does not mean you are mentally and emotionally ready. I needed 9 months to accept what
had happened to me and to adjust to it. I was lucky I had a support network of friends who
pushed me to try things. A year after the accident they had me back in the water.
When I got out of “rehab,” I knew I had to go to school and be serious about it. A friend
from college brought me to see one of our professors and he encouraged me to start school
right away that summer. I was not ready yet, but I began in the fall. It was a good decision. If I
had waited longer, I might not have gone back.
PLANNING 85