In this episode, we see that Tony continues to struggle with his role. Towards the end of the show, he says that there are so many things that one can be with the students – mentor, teacher, guidance counselor, friend – but that he believes that “you gotta be the teacher first.” While Tony talks the talk about the teacher role, he doesn’t yet have a good grasp of it. Specifically, he does not act as an adult authority figure with his students. Instead, he acts as a loving friend. A good teacher combines these two roles, but Tony can’t seem to find a way to take on his position of authority.
When he suspects two boys of cheating on a test (one boy was texting the answers to the other boy), Tony does not handle the situation like a teacher. He does not provide swift, logical consequences. He says that he wants the boys to admit that they were cheating – which they do not do – and he assigns them a report on the test material. Cheating on a test should have immediate consequences for the students involved and should not be handled in a namby, pamby way. There should be zero tolerance for cheating. Tony doesn’t have the tools to handle this situation.
In another very telling scene, Tony leaves the classroom in tears after the students do not settle down. He walks out of the room, leaving the students alone during their class period. He stands in the hallway and cries. The students exit the classroom at the end of the period, and many of them stop and ask Tony if he is all right. This is not acceptable. Tony should not put himself in a position where his students are taking care of him. He is the adult in the classroom, and he needs to pull himself together and not let the students see that their behavior is affecting him so deeply. Several of the students later say that Tony’s tears were not appropriate. The incident results in the students creating a card for Tony where they say that they are sorry. When they present the card to him the next day, he is visibly moved. Clearly, the students care about Tony and feel that he cares for them. But they do not respect his authority, and Tony has not exerted his authority appropriately.
Tony has a lot to learn about being the teacher first and what that means.
