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.
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26 Responses to “Classy Individuals”
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More Comments Pages: « 1 [2] 3 » Show All Comments
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. 