It is not enough just to love.
It is the way in which we love that matters.
Love well, my friends.

Amber Luczak, Senior Fellow

“I Teach Students, Not Just Chemistry”

I don’t teach atoms.
Not really.
I teach the questions they raise:
The way a mystery bubbles beneath the surface of a liquid
Of a simple beaker or broken expectation and prediction.

To teach science
Is to do science.
To move. To wonder.
To mess up, try again,
And chase the why
With hearts and hands,
Not just notebooks and scores.

I begin with the spark.
Let students talk.
Let them notice.
Let them ask.
Only then do I step in,
Like a guide with a map drawn in chalk.
Ready to adjust with the next question.

I do not teach for college.
I teach for life.
Because not every student
Will walk the same hallways I did.
Or want to.
Some will build.
Some will heal.
Some will question.
Some will lead.
So science should speak to all of them.

Chemistry is the lens.
It is not the destination.
It’s the way we see trust form in labs,
Confidence build in quiet thinkers,
Collaboration rise from scattered data,
Growth in every uncomfortable pause.

You ask me what I teach?
I teach students.
Chemistry is the language I use
To help them find their own voice.

Anthony Stetzenmeyer, Senior Fellow

Students are people.
Know them well; let them know you.
And be a nerd too.

Sarah Hawthorne, Senior Fellow

An ongoing feature in Kaleidoscope, Call and Response features short responses to a writing prompt. Do you have an idea for a storytelling prompt? Contact us at kaleidoscope@knowlesteachers.org.

Citation

Hawthorne, S., Luczak, A., Stetzenmeyer, A. (2026). Call and response: The poetry of teaching. Kaleidoscope: Educator Voices and Perspectives, 12(2), https://knowlesteachers.org/resource/call-and-response-the-poetry-of-teaching.