Assistant Principal of English and Secret Guitarist: Mr. Grossman

What subjects do you currently teach? Why did you choose to teach them?

This year, I am teaching Freshman Composition, which I have taught for the last few years. Over my 30 years at Stuyvesant, I have taught every grade level [in] core classes, AP classes, and selective classes. It is important to teach different things, to reinvent yourself. It is important to me, coming from the Assistant Principal of English, that whichever teachers and classes I am observing, they know that I have taught the same thing, so they can have some confidence that I know what I am talking about.

How did you get to your position at Stuyvesant?

I was a student at Teacher’s College in Columbia before becoming a teacher. I was part of a teaching program to do student teaching. In my first semester, I taught at a school in East Harlem. During that semester, I was in the one class that the former head of the English department [at Stuyvesant] had taught, which is an American Literature class. I didn’t even know what Stuyvesant was back then. The teacher liked the paper that I wrote on Herman Melville’s story “Bartleby, the Scrivener.” He invited me to be a student teacher at Stuyvesant High School. 

After that, he hired me to be a teacher. I keep getting bumped due to “seniority transfers,” where the district can send a teacher down to a school. The school would not have a say in this decision whatsoever. So, for two years in a row, I was bumped. Finally, the former Assistant Principal was able to bring me back for good. He would really push me to take many classes and get a degree in administration. At first I did not want to; I was perfectly happy teaching five classes. However, he kept mentioning that, “the reason you’re happy is because the department is the way it is. When somebody from outside comes in, everything you like about the department could go away very easily.”

And so he warned me down, and I took the administration classes. I am grateful that he pushed me because I really love to be in the position to hire people, to set the tone for the department, to help shape the goals and policies of the department, and to work with the amazing staff of teachers.

Can you tell us a little bit about your younger years? Where did you grow up? What did you love to do as a child?

I grew up outside of Philadelphia. I was happy enough, but I felt as if I was not in the right place. The moment I moved to New York after college, I knew this is where I was supposed to be. My brother still lives back at home and is very happy. I had a pretty normal childhood with great parents. I played outside a lot. It was very different then, going outside after lunch and running around all day. Our parents didn’t know where we were, [and] we came back after dark. I was super into guitar and played it every day. 

Have you always wanted to be an English teacher? If not, what did you want to do beforehand?

I definitely did not always want to be an English teacher. I wanted to play in a band throughout college and for most of my 20s. I’ve played shows around clubs in New York, and going into teaching school was a way to buy myself a little more time before having to commit to something. Becoming a student teacher somehow fit, surprisingly. I surprised myself by loving to teach.

What was your favorite subject growing up? Why?

I would say English, not because of my deepened passion towards it, [but because of my love for reading]. I loved reading, but if I was assigned a book in school, I was less likely to read it than [if I had] select[ed] a book of my own. I don’t know whether my school was particularly inspiring, but I definitely know that I was not mature enough to make the most of my classes that I was in, which [was] also true for college. It wasn’t until I went to graduate school that I started to “lock in,” as they say nowadays.

What do you think is the biggest misconception students have about English?

One [misconception] is that students believe that their English teachers want them to be as perfect as possible. We don’t; we want our students to learn, and learning involves making mistakes. If you are already perfect, there is nothing for us to do in class, making class a hollow exercise. Sometimes, students and teachers can have different ideas of what is going on in class, or what the class is about, rather. Students often feel that their job is to get as high of a grade as possible, while we teachers feel that our job is to make sure students learn as much as possible. Those two things are connected, but they don’t fully overlap.

Every now and then, when a student asks, “How can I get a better grade in this class,” I usually find myself saying something like: “You are asking the wrong question.” If you are chasing the grade, you are unlikely to get the grade you want. The students who do the best in their English classes are the students who are trying to learn the most. The grade is the secondary thing that accompanies the love of learning, but you can’t leapfrog the learning and commitment to get the grade.

If you could go back in time and give advice to your high school self, what would you say?

Very much. I was stunned at how little I knew myself and the world. The one overarching advice would be, “relax, and all will be well.”

Has being a parent changed your perspective as a teacher?

One surprise for me was that teaching didn’t necessarily give me better parenting skills. Parenting probably gave me better teaching skills, but not vice versa. I am infinitely patient with my students, but I got just as annoyed and frustrated as a parent does like other parents. Things I knew as a teacher did not transfer to being the father of young boys.

How often do you interact with other Assistant Principals? What do you discuss?

We have weekly cabinet meetings. I interact with them all the time on tons of different things, such as setting up staff development for teachers and getting help with things that I may be working on, or vice versa. Being a supervisor is very complicated. I am the head of the English department, and in that capacity, my job is to support and advocate for the English department. However, I am also the Assistant Principal, and in that capacity, my job is to support the large admission of the school and the Principal’s mission. Sometimes, these things are in alignment, and sometimes those things go out of balance. Just like other APs, we work together, but there are times we compete for limited resources like hiring new teachers and different needs for our department, and knowing when and where things are is part of the job.

Fun Questions!

If you could teach any subject besides English, what would it be?

Definitely not math. I am not fluent in another language and did not make it past geometry, and I outright failed chemistry in high school. Probably social studies because history and English are connected in many ways from the years I have been in humanity classes. Combine and wrap history and English curriculums together.

Favorite TV show, movie, or book?

I am going to say Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov just as an answer. TV shows include The Wire and Archer. The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are the best movies ever made.   

Favorite food or restaurant in the city?

The best thing about being in the city is that there is variety. If we are talking about the death wheel, then pizza.

What are your hobbies?

Reading books, listening to music, and playing on the guitar.