Coming from a relatively affluent school, I
couldn’t understand why these kids didn’t
immediately respond to my instruction.
In mid-October of that year. I had an epiphany
of some sort. Where it came from, I have no
idea. But, I ran with it. I had tried almost
everything in my fairly young repertoire to
capture these students to no avail. So what
harm would it do, right?
Once again, I read my favorite college book,
The First Days of School. In all the words the
message was simple: Build relationships; set
routines and structure. Above all, smile; be
yourself; share yourself with your students.
Basically, I had to change everything about the
way I taught.
The very next day, I stood at the door, looked
each student in the eye and greeted them as
they walked in the door, and asked them to
find their seat. I had rearranged desks so the
students were in groups of four facing each
other. Above each group I had a number.
Before the number came the word family.
It is within this opportunity that I truly became
an educator. To learn how to be flexible, and
to find the unique abilities and talents of my
students. Learning about my students and
what they are passionate about and what they
find joy in. I learned that while I had a stable
upbringing, most of the students in this class
did not. Some parents were working two jobs
and only saw their child for an hour each day.
I became their parent; their role model; their
place of safety and solace.
When I was first asked why I wanted to become
a teacher, I used the old cliché phrase, “I want
to make a difference”. However, when I think of
that phrase now it seems small and not worthy
of what I really do.
What I do is far more powerful than that. What
I do is change lives.
For the next week, I creatively structured the
curriculum to involve tasks the family groups
had to complete together. I watched and saw
my students as they worked together to seek
solutions and find answers. The early glimpse
of smiles from my students offered me hope,
and students that once had a hardness about
them began to soften.
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2015 Washington State Teacher of the Year • From Seed to Apple