Complete Acceptance

This last week has made me think a lot about the setting I will be working in. The type of classroom I will create and how this will affect my students. The Sapon-Shevinopt article talks a great deal about building a strong community in the classroom and providing a safe environment where students feel comfortable to learn. This article points out that there has been little education available to teachers on this subject. It is obvious to me that providing a place where students feel free to be themselves and are able to overcome their weaknesses without shame is crucial for their success in school. When I think back to my own education, I remember quite a few times when I was too uncomfortable to ask questions for fear of humiliation, and therefore never received clarification. When I would go without asking questions, I would often times never completely learn the material. It would be a shame to allow this to go on in a classroom when there are things that can be done to promote a comfortable learning environment.

With the standards that are set for kids today it is important that us, as teachers, make every effort to set up an area for learning that is safe and comfortable. If a student is not comfortable in their class they will not fully engage in the learning process and this will significantly affect how well they do. I believe that all kids have a desire to be accepted and like to feel wanted. Throughout my life I have met a number of adults who have a pretty hard shell and are not easily affected by being disliked or put down, I have never seen this in a child. I think that what often happens is that a child will put up a hard wall after they have been teased or put down in some way and are now more vulnerable to harassment. This is often a cycle that the ‘weird’ or ‘dumb’ kids get caught up in. I find a great deal of inspiration in discovering things that these kids can do, skills and attributes that they have that can positively attribute to their class and their school. As a teacher, I will constantly be looking out for different talents and strengths my students have to offer. Sometimes I wish one of my teachers would have noticed that although I was poor at one thing I was very good at a number of other things.

I think an equally important issue in the classroom that must be acknowledged and dealt with is student-student interaction. Kids treating each other poorly is a huge problem in today’s society. Bullying, teasing, and abuse are all common problems in our schools today. In order for classrooms to become like a community, the relationships between the students must be dealt with. I am optimistic to say that all it takes is a bit of understanding between each of the students for them to see that everyone is not so different from one another and that all students have strengths and weaknesses. Along with wanting my students to feel good in the classroom with their peers, I too want to feel safe and confident teaching them. I am a bit nervous, especially with the older students, that they may be able to read through me or put me down for one of my faults. This will push me even harder to ensure that my classroom remains a community and a place where respected relationships exist.

As a teacher, I see one of my challenges being trying to make my students unite when the larger community surrounding my school might not. I have spent a little bit of time in schools where extreme socioeconomic differences exist, gangs are present, and other neighborhood conflicts exist. It is amazing how much of this is evident through even first and second graders. I remember one time when a second grader came to school, took off his coat and when he went to put it on the back of the chair he got really angry. He grabbed scissors and began to cut his coat. The teacher caught this quickly and asked him why he was doing this to his coat and he told her that it was because his blue coat had red on the inside of it and his dad didn’t like the color red because his color was blue.

I realize this week, while looking at school and classroom communities that students truly come from all walks of life. We had a discussion in class once about parent volunteers, and I don’t mean to beat a dead horse, but it is important to remember that not everyone lives the same life and what may seem life an easy task for one parent or person may be impossible for someone else. I am very passionate about allowing children to be themselves and not judge children or their families. Another thing that I will add to my ‘to do’ list for teaching will be to hole noting against my students until I know the whole story. This may sound a bit cheesy, but I watch the movie Blind Side this weekend and it really made me think. As a teacher of that student it would have been very easy to get angry with him for not having his homework completed, or disgusted by the fact that he wore the same outfit everyday and this would not have been my judgment to make. Nor would it have been any of the other student’s judgments to make. If all children were accepted the way he eventually was how would things be different? I keep coming back to the same thought: the smallest acceptance can have the hugest impact on a child’s life.