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
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.