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White, a longtime high school English teacher, and on what it takes to be a great teacher. It contrasts public tributes and the author’s own experience with the pressures shaping modern schooling, including standardized testing and “teacher-proof” lessons. Drawing on a retired teacher’s list of key qualities, Waddell emphasizes listening, humor, subject mastery, and genuine care, arguing that students are present individuals, not only a future.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":15,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/ill-never-forget-mr-white-a-teachers-legacy/592398/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/ill-never-forget-mr-white-a-teachers-legacy/592398.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"McGucket","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-22","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":8},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Who is Edward A. White in the document?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Edward A. White is described as a legendary high school English teacher closely associated with San Jose High School. The essay highlights his legacy of kindness, love, and lifelong learning.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What pressures in education does the author mention?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The author notes increasing emphasis on standardized tests, the sale of scripted lessons to districts as “teacher-proof,” and political attention that often frames teaching as an area to oppose or replace.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"According to the document, what is the most important quality of a great teacher?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The essay stresses listening as especially important, and it connects great teaching to the ability to hear students as individuals and guide the class back to productive engagement.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},592398,1792675993,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":14,"category_name":15,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":8,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":24,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":39},1236954412713,"https://us-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","I’ll Never Forget Mr. White  \nA Teacher’s Legacy  \nBy Andy Waddell  \nA  \nman died last summer. At 78, he was neither old enough nor young enough for his passing to make news. His obituary was two paragraphs long. The San Jose Mercury News simply stated that Edward  \nA. White was survived by “his brother Mike, his sister Mary and his many loving nieces and nephews.” Like Willy Loman, he “never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper.” Only one short line from his obit showed the gap that separates Ed from the fictional salesman.“As a passionate High School English Teacher” the Mercury put it, he “leaves a far reaching legacy of kindness, love and the pursuit of lifelong learning.”  \nI am part of that legacy.  \nEd was one of those legendary figures—it seems every school has one—who, sticking fast year after year like an axis of the earth, become almost synonymous with the institution itself, in this case San Jose High School. Every year, he sat with the graduates upon the platform, an honor voted by the students; every alumnus who returned to speak to the students called him out by name and devoted a few kind comments to  \nAndy Waddell teaches English at Santa Clara High School in Santa Clara, California. He has worked as a high schoolteacher and administratorfor 25 years. Photo of Edward A. White (above) courtesy of the author.  \nPhOTO cREdITS: PAGE 29, TOP © WILL & dENI mcINTYRE/cORBIS, BOTTOm © TEd SPIEGEL/cORBIS; PAGE 30, © KIm KULISh/cORBIS; PAGE 31, BOTTOm © dAVId JOLES/ZUmA PRESS/cORBIS, TOP © Ed KAShI/ cORBIS; PAGE 32, © GERALd hERBERT/AP/cORBIS.  \n“Mr. White.” The words “I’ll never forget” figured prominently in these tributes.  \nLately, it feels like not only are public schools and teachers’unions under attack but so is the value of teaching itself, or at least teaching as a creative act, the way the old masters like Ed White did it. More and more emphasis is placed on standardized tests,“scripted lessons” are sold to districts as being“teacher-proof,” and politicians rise to power by promising to fight teachers’ interests. In this context (and just after battling a class of 39 freshmen seventh period and feeling once again like just hanging it up for good), I found myself reading the“guest book” [on legacy.com](on legacy.com), a tribute message board with comments like,“I am one of the countless former students whose life was forever changed by the wisdom, kindness and generosity of Mr. White”(Sylvia French Kennedy, class of 1986) . Soon I began pondering a question I should have thought about 25 years ago when I entered this profession: What does it mean to be a great teacher?  \nI’mnot alonein wondering about this. In 2009, headlines proclaimed that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation planned to spend $45 million to find out what makes a great teacher. In a pithy, withering piece in Education Week, retired teacher James D. Starkey offered to save them a lot of time and trouble (in exchange for the $45 mil) by answering the question right now, without the benefit of formal research. He said a great teacher: “(1) has a sense of humor;  \n(2) is intuitive; (3) knows the subject matter; (4) listens well;  \n(5) is articulate; (6) has an obsessive/compulsive side; (7) can  \n28 AmERIcAN EdUcATOR | SPRING 2012  \ning differences in student voices. They can tell whether a student who asks to use the restroom should be given permission, told to wait, or taken out in the hall and quietly asked,“What’s wrong?”They can hear the difference between teasing and banter. Most important, they sense the exact line between productive chatter and pointless noise, and (amazingly to me after 25 years of trying) are able to instantaneously draw the class back across the line to where they should be.  \nEven more difficult is teaching students to listen, not just tobe quiet. I remember in third grade, dear old Mrs. Trolinger helping me with something while the rest ofthe class worked on. Suddenly, she stopped, finger to her lips, ","cbCaiqkTT7lW8YGz","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiqkTT7lW8YGz","pdf",751872,"English","# I’ll Never Forget Mr. White\n## A Teacher’s Legacy\n## What It Means to Be a Great Teacher","[{\"question\":\"Who is Edward A. White in the document?\",\"answer\":\"Edward A. White is described as a legendary high school English teacher closely associated with San Jose High School. The essay highlights his legacy of kindness, love, and lifelong learning.\"},{\"question\":\"What pressures in education does the author mention?\",\"answer\":\"The author notes increasing emphasis on standardized tests, the sale of scripted lessons to districts as “teacher-proof,” and political attention that often frames teaching as an area to oppose or replace.\"},{\"question\":\"According to the document, what is the most important quality of a great teacher?\",\"answer\":\"The essay stresses listening as especially important, and it connects great teaching to the ability to hear students as individuals and guide the class back to productive engagement.\"}]","I’ll Never Forget Mr. White - A Teacher’s Legacy | PDF",1792074500]