Classy Individuals
Posted by Hope Spencer on 09 Sep 2009 | Posted in: Inspiration and Motivation, Meet the Mailbox®
Recently, a coworker and I were chatting about some magazine spot art. At one point I said, “Yes, I knew that because my dad used to raise guinea pigs,” and I waited for my coworker’s response about the art. But he wasn’t looking at the art anymore; he was looking at me. “Your dad raised…guinea pigs? Are you being serious?”
“Oh yeah,” I said, “at one time we had over 200 living in our garage.” When I saw his odd look, I stopped talking and ran the conversation back through my brain. Then I thought to myself, “Hmmmm…maybe this sounds kind of strange. I mean, not everybody has a father who raised guinea pigs, I guess.”
As I made my way back to my desk, I was blushing furiously. But I was also thinking about teachers. (I love teachers!) For some reason, my mind immediately connected the incident with teaching. Why? Well, think of it this way: We know that teachers have the challenge of understanding and reaching different learning styles. But they also spend every day bringing together 20–30 individuals who each have different backgrounds and different experiences. Some are only children and others are from large families. Some may have lived in many different states while others may have lived in the same house all their lives. And one child may even spend half an hour or so each evening helping her dad fill water bottles for guinea pig cages!
Think of the challenge of bringing these kids to a common ground! But also think of what these kids can learn from each other. Wow, don’t you think teachers have the most awesome, exciting job ever? I do!
Congratulations to Rhonda Brown of Messiah Lutheran Preschool in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She is the winner of a copy of one of the books from our Mix & Match Games series.
26 Comments |
Subscribe
|
Email This
Wow, talk about diversity! the school I am doing an administrative intern at has a 90 - 10 split, with 90% being Latino and other Spanish nationalities and 10% being American or some from Africa. It is interesting to see how each nationality shows respect towards teachers, and their friends.I have had the opportunity to watch and take part in morning hello’s and morning uh ha!from students. I must say that while teaching at a private school it was the Latinos who showed the most respect towards teachers. They often thanked me for teaching their child, they were the first and sometimes only parents who checked in regularly on their child’s progress. I think that respect is a trait children begin to learn at home and teachers build on that trait, or have the job of teaching the child what respect is and that at school these are the ways one must act. I think the Golden Rule is a perfect example of what respect is and it can be modified for little ones to read “Treat your friends and adults like you want them to treat you” This simple statement is understood by all school children no matter what nationality they are or what social economical situation they come from. Respect is a must if teachers want to have uninterrupted teaching time. As an administrator I think I would encourage my staff to teach by example what actions and language use is expected in the school. I think that by taking a couple of weeks to really focus on this trait would provide teachers more time to teach without constantly correcting students behavior.
I agree with Erica,
Student need to know and understand about respect. Most of them do not respect themselves yet someone else. Teachers need to teach students about respect because some of the children are not taught about it at home.
I think one of a teacher’s most important jobs is to bring all students together in order to teach them to love or even simply respect all varieties of people.
I truly agree with the teachers of the importance of getting to know your students and their backgrounds and cultures. This is provides us with an amazing teaching tool and allows us to connect with our students.
No matter where we are or what we do, everyone has a unique experience and life story.
I totally agree. Helping children find a common ground can be very challenging. Thanks for the story!
I love your story! So true! I teach all different levels and love how they can share with each other their differences.
It really is amazing, isn’t it?
I try to find out about my students and use that information to learn about things that interest them. I also use that information to help me direct them to books they might like.
I’m lucky because I get a diverse group of students every year! I’ve had students in my class from Russia, Moldova, Ukraine, Mexico, Philippines, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, China, Japan, and from all over the United States! It’s challenging, especially when the students come to school with absolutely no English, but it’s such a joy to watch them learn from their peers and teachers! Thanks for the cool connection!
What a challenge to get to know 26 unique individuals! Today there was one sweet girl in the afternoon program and I was the privileged teacher who got to spend time one on one with her. What a joy to get to know her better without the others there and yet…………..I think I will remember to focus on one or two children each time my class is there. Oh the wonderful relationships that will develop and the great language skills. The ability to know every one and how we all fit into the group-to see each child’s confidence develop and bloom. Every year at this time, two weeks into the school year, I seek the opportunities to get to know each child. I hope this year will be the best ever!
great analogy! Yes, it is amazing the diversity in today’s classrooms. The wonderful thing is that if the teacher is in tune with it, so much learning from each other can happen. Also because they are learning from each other, the also learn to respect each other’s values, experiences and backgrounds.
It’s easy to remember to try to share with the children special experiences in my life… and to use those experiences as a teaching tool. I find it much more difficult to remember to show genuine interest in their lives outside our setting, but realize it’s not only important, but a vital necessity.
I’ve been teaching children ages 3-5 who have some developmental delays. I always find it a fun challenge to take the comments that at face value seem off topic or a little unusual, and expand the child’s comments so that their thinking becomes more apparent. These little ones have so much to teach us about life and using our language.
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.
When I entered into this field I thought I would be doing all the teaching. After 20 years Wow was I ever wrong. My families and students have taught me about places I have been and most likely never will. The diverse population I have had over the years gave things back to me. I have come to love this part of my job. All of us come from a different place but we all want the best for our children.
Think not only about what the kids bring to the classroom, but what they learn from each other and what we, as the teachers, learn from them. Everyday is a unique challenge and opportunity for growth.
I am amazed at how much I learn from the diverse group. I think the first lesson I learned was that my way of doing things was not always the only right way of doing things. I am always amazed at how quickly children learn, and how quickly they will share what they have learned. As tired as I am at the end of the day, I know I am blessed to be a part of the learning experience in these children’s lives. I receive as much as I give, if not more. (and if it weren’t for these kids, I probably would not have ever held a guinea pig, or the snake, or even that huge rabbit….)
Thanks for your post this week! As a pre-service teacher thinking about the kids I teach and will teach is an every day occurence. I intern/student teach in a small community and I know that a lot of my students have interesting lives on the farm…someone probally raises guinea pigs.
Thanks again for sharing your story!
I agree — teaching is wonderful and a true pleasure. It’s nice to be reminded of that every once in awhile. I feel like we so often get caught up in the business and politics of teaching that it’s easy to forget the really cool perks of our job.
Thanks for the reminder!!
I have been with the same man for 17yrs as of friday. We have 3 children together, he has also taught them how to pretty muchly everything on yhe outside of the house. I am the inside kind of person cause of full time work and full time going to school at night. I am pretty busy doing something, always doing homework, so it seems, can’t wait to be out of school. Kids do not learn anything if you don’t teach them.
I teach in a small rural community school of about 150 students. A small portion of the student population is Amish. Talk about blending cultures into one classroom!! It is really hard trying to mesh all the children together without losing parts of themselves, but I do my best to not let that happen! We are all from different backgrounds: old order Amish, new order, Mennonite, Christians, (and me-the Roman Catholic teacher). But I think our school is better because of all the unique perspectives we bring!
Toughest job ever! But so amazing and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world! My life is so rich because of those 20 unique personalities in my classroom!
My boyfriend is a great inspiration to his children. He is always making sure they are on top of their homework and encourages them to think about what they want to be when they grow up; which leads to the topic of college!
He always takes his son to the “car store” and teaches him how to fix things. He also makes sure that he is a great father to his daughter. Even though he won’t let her date ’til she’s 30. 
My husband is an amazing guy. He rewired and repiped our house. He graduated from Cal Arts, but he works at Nestle figuring out how much raw material the factories need to get finished goods to the stores. He has taught our kids how to fix cars, bikes and anything eles. I met him when I was 15 and have come to know that people can do anything. Teaching kids that this is true is a gift. Having them share what they can do is a wonderful thing.
I think the teachers do have the most awesome job ever… I have lived in the same house all my life up until I got married. Now we live in a small town and we love it. We have raised rabbits and at one time had 40 or more so I love your story!