Green Pens and Hope: A Teacher's Gift to her Students and to Me

I have written several pieces on how students are deeply affected by teachers and professors. I have written about how small negatives, seemingly inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, are remembered by students into and through their adulthood. These little things are not little at all in the minds and hearts of those who experience them. Sadly, as educators, we often act in and out of classrooms, in and out of residential halls, on and off campuses in ways that affect our students negatively -- many times totally unintentionally.

Here are links to some of those blogs I wrote on this very topic in the recent past. https://medium.com/@KarenGrossEdu/sadly-we-remember-the-bad-stuff-teachers-said-and-did-when-we-were-young-94d20e8d5b97 and https://diverseeducation.com/article/117209/ and https://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-gross/send-the-right-message-ab_b_9100560.html.

Not all of my concerns over "little things" are/were welcomed. Indeed, when I spoke about the importance of not using red pens when correcting student papers (or redlining student work online), some folks were incensed. I was criticized for being hyper-protective of children; I was accused of catering to children's needs when I suggested they pick the color of ink their teachers used in making corrections. I was reinforcing coddling. Indeed, the reaction of some people to my suggestions on student success more generally is that I am maternalistic or pandering or soft. I am told I am lowering standards.

Bottom line: Does it matter how we help students to succeed if indeed they do succeed? In other words, is the pathway to success what matters, howsoever constructed, if at the end of the day, the student feels good about him or herself, has mastered the needed material and can move onto the next level of learning with confidence and pride? The American notion that we all need to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps still has power.

For the record, how exactly does one do that bootstrap thing. It seems impossible to lift yourself up by your bootstraps; the image in my mind is almost comedic.

We live in troubled times and much of my recent writing on education has been critical. In truth, there is much about which to be critical. Education across the early childhood -- adult pipeline is not thriving in all sectors for all students; that is for sure.

But, I write now -- in this piece on LINKEDIN -- about something remarkably positive --- about the power of remembering the good things teachers do/did with and for you and the memories and influences that endure and change student behavior for decades. Having written that we largely remember only the bad behavior in the educational realm, I am happy to share a story that proves me wrong -- at least in part.

Let me explain.

I was at a military promotion ceremony today; a close friend was being promoted (below the zone too) to Lieutenant Colonel. She is remarkable and deeply deserving and she does our nation proud day in and day out. After the formal ceremony and the taking of the oath and the changing of the "hardware," the new Lieutenant Colonel made a few remarks. She is a wonderful speaker and the audience was eager to listen.

Her theme was gratitude. Her focus was on thanking the many people who helped her become who she is. This ranged from her family to her fellow soldiers to her high school lacrosse coach. But, my ears perked up when she thanked Ellen Donahue, her eighth grade teacher, who was there in the room! My friend explained that because of this stellar teacher she (the newly promoted military person) always wrote comments on military reports and documents that she had to review in green ink. And she had been doing that for now more than 15 years. Yes green pen and only green pen. She went on to add that her friends from class, one an ICU nurse, only use green pens to this day.

As the audience listened, wondering what was so special about green pens, my friend explained that her teacher only made corrections in green and the teacher told her that green was the color of hope. My friend continued, "I was able to navigate math because this teacher gave me hope, even when I made mistakes. She made me believe that I could and would get it right. She believed in me."

Well, I am not sure I heard another word after this. I had to find this amazing teacher in the gathered crowd. I had to tell her about red pens and how I had never ever met a teacher who not only used a different color (green) but ascribed a meaning to that color -- hope.

I found her and she was as warm and engaging and welcoming as a person can be. And, she shared her belief in helping children succeed (she now serves as a counselor rather than a classroom teacher). And, at that moment, I realized she had saved the green pen industry and in so doing, enabled literally hundreds of kids who made errors in math to believe that they could get to the right answers.

Now, I have used many colored pens (other than red). For a time, I was especially fond of purple and then orange. But, I never explained to students why a particular color had meaning. I just hoped that the absence of red spoke for itself. But, tomorrow, I am ordering a bucket filled with green pens and markers and I am labeling the bucket in which they will rest "hope," and I will use them in my work with students with intentionality.

I believe in the power of green. And yes, it can have many meanings; I get that. But, brava to the teacher who worked to create hope through green, and brava/bravo to the many students who still use green pens -- creating hope in others.

P.S. My children's book series, Lady Lucy's Quest, has lots of green and the main character, Lucy, wears green. And she wants to be a knight and is told, "No, girls can't be knights." She does succeed in her quest and proceeds on other quests, having been knighted. I wear green when I read this book to kids. I use green pens to sign the books. Never even did I realize that green was and is a symbol of hope -- the theme of the series itself. I'll be......