Friday, August 6, 2010
Session 10: The Powerful Influence of Teachers
As we all know, there are days when teachers find their profession demanding and stressful. Well, perhaps there are even weeks like that. Regardless, teaching is an awesome profession... a profession where you can both save lives... literally... and impact the future... positively. Discuss your thoughts about the following videos. The first story is a sad, but true story from the 1960s. A movie was made in the 1970s that has let the story be retold over and over... hopefully alerting future teachers to the power that they have to literally save lives. This story can be read in full at this site"... or the movie may be watched from these recently posted YouTube videos (Part 1 and Part 2) Teachers have a tremendous opportunity to reach out to "lost" children who may otherwise feel abandoned by the world. It's hard work to teach all the subject matter and then teach the "children" as well. Now consider this video, entitled "Encouragement to Teachers". Comment on both videos.
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The message that stuck out to me in both of these videos is the necessity of love before teaching. You cannot truly teach a child until you love them. Yet, the ones that often seem the hardest to love are the ones that need it the most. I think we can all think of a student that we have encountered that seems hard to love. I think it’s easy to say something like this and so hard to practice in a classroom. The quote that stuck out to me in the second video was, “Teach as if you were teaching your own children.” There isn’t much that a mother would not do for their own children, and if every teacher had that mentality, think of the nurturing, safe environment that every classroom would become.
I think that the first video about the boy who dies really points out how high the stakes are. It isn’t just a ‘nice thing’ for a teacher to love a child in his or her classroom; it is actually imperative for their success. Even when we have days that we don’t think we are even reaching the students in our class, we should watch this video, because we actually are. I have heard before that a teacher will never know how the extent of our influence, just like ripples in a pool. These are all good things to keep in mind when our profession gets tiresome or stressful. I actually will admit that I have a folder on my computer called “Inspiration” for those exact moments. I am going to add the second video to this folder. I highly suggest having a folder like this. I have pulled it out at crucial points in the year and it has really affected my attitude!
This week has been an interesting week in education with the new documentary Waiting for Superman helping education getting all this attention. I feel in some ways it is great to get so many people talking about education reform, but in many ways there was a lot of negative discussion about teachers not doing their job. Watching the first video Cipher in the Snow was very heart wrenching. This video was made a number of years ago yet we have more and more students like that entering our classrooms. Our jobs do not always end at three o’clock in the afternoon. Often it is our job to play detective to figure out why a student may be having difficulty in school and often it has to do with home life. I think some of the greatest advice I received from someone about my first year of teaching was to have high expectations for my students. I do believe it is very true that students will live up to what you believe about them. Even though my students are very young they are very intuitive and it always amazes me how quickly some students can become discouraged just by a small comment or action. Our students are watching us and looking for us to believe in them. I really enjoyed the 2nd video as well. It is always nice to be acknowledged as a teacher because we have many roles to may within the role of teacher. We have all had teachers that were special to us and some teachers that we did not care for as much. I always think about my 5th grade teacher. She helped to build a lot of confidence in me and made me realize I could do many things. I always try to remember how special she made me feel. I want to make my students feel that same way. Both of these videos were a good reminder that are students are people and not just test scores. This is easy to forget sometimes. Thanks for the inspiration
Wow...the first video about the boy dying is powerful. Even though it's a bit outdated, the message it sends is still important. As teachers, we can never truly know the impact we are having on our students. I think it's all about perspective. I lived a fairly "normal" life as a child and maybe wouldn't understand how incredibly life-changing it could be for a child who is struggling at home to have a teacher that cares. As we saw in the video, the teacher that didn't think he really even was noticed by the student was someone the student looked to.
This video reminded me of my experience working with orphaned teenagers in Ukraine. I have gone the past two summers for two weeks working with the same teenagers. Coming back a second week, it was incredible to see the impact we made in the kids lives and some of the kids I barely knew last summer were greatly impacted by our visit last year. As teachers, we should be aware of our actions and influence because students are definitely looking to teachers.
The second video had some good quotes as encouragement. One that said "you should teach as if teaching your own children" is such a good reminder of the IMPORTANCE of what we do. These students are someone's children and we should work every day remembering what expectations we would place on our child's educators.
I have heard other teachers reference the Cipher in the Snow video but had never viewed it myself. What a lesson it has to teach us as teachers! As others have stated in their responses, teachers often do not know the impact they have on students’ lives until long after students leave their classrooms, if they ever find out at all! I find each year that some of the most unlikely students allow me the privilege of being their favorite teacher for the year. What an amazing compliment! However, sometimes I don’t hear what they think of me or my class until they are gone. It is so nice to hear my former students in high school (and now college) saying I was a big part of their success. That makes me feel like what I am doing is worthwhile. Recently, I have been exhausted! Meetings or tutoring with students before and after school every day, ball games to attend, papers to grade, parents to contact, et cetera. My “To Do” list never seems to end! However, I have to stop and think about what is truly important for my students sometimes. In the midst of the push to raise TCAP scores and improve understanding of concepts, if I don’t help a student deal with a situation among friends or from home before trying to teach, than my students will learn nothing from me. I honestly wear my heart on my sleeve most days, and my students can clearly see that I am human. I am real with them and what them to be real with me. Does that diminish my expectations for them? Absolutely not! I try to show them every day that I believe they are capable of wonderful things and that they are successful when they show progress, not perfection. Do I always get through to every student? Of course not, but I know that my impact will be seen in someone’s life, somewhere down the road, and perhaps they will in turn influence others for good. That is all I can do. Just as the second video said: “A teacher affects, eternity, he can never tell where his influence ends” – Henry Adams.
What a reminder of the great brokenness of many of my students. They are scared, hungry, confused, and sad. As a teacher, I had forgotten how much influence I have on them. After all, I spend eight hours a day with them, which is perhaps more time they spend with any family member. The boy, Cliff Evans, in the first video was a complete outcast. He lacked friends, suffered an unloving home, and received a number of labels. Cliff’s teacher remarked that “People seem to live up to what other people say of them.” If all of Cliff’s teachers and his parents expressed severe disappointment in him, perhaps that is all he believed about himself. His teacher then resolved not to allow any student to leave his class a “zero.”
Although I cannot change the home lives my students experience, I can inspire their confidence. They are the purpose I teach. It is difficult to remember that I am not only teaching content, but I am also teaching children. I am teaching them love, patience, and confidence among many other things. Many days I feel overwhelmed with the skills and knowledge my students need to grasp. Most days I feel I have failed at the great responsibility before me. Videos like these posted remind me what maintains greater value than any skill my students will master. Above all, my students are children, and children need to know love. They need to know they are valued first. Then, and only when they believe in this value, will they be willing and eager to grow academically. As a teacher, it is my urgent responsibility to know my students. I need to know what they enjoy, what they feel good at, what makes them laugh. I need to know them as people and show them I care. Most striking to me was one of the final quotes in the last video, “The kids in our classrooms are infinitely more significant than the subject matter we teach.”
Well the first video was extremely sad. Any time I see a video or read an article about a child who simply neglected it kills me inside. Even though this video was made several years ago and many teachers who watch it are saddened this situation happens everyday in schools across America. The boy in the video was bullied, neglected, and shown no attention. The principal of the school did not even know who the child was. The teacher thought he might have been in his Math class. Sometimes as teachers we do not realize things that can change a child. When the boy started to school he was just like any other student. Yes, he was a little shy but wanted to learn. This lasted him until he was in the third grade, and his parents started to get a divorce. We as teachers some times forget these students have home and personal lives. Students, especially today, deal with things that a child shouldn’t have to deal with. A child’s home life is there life. A child’s home life can make or break them. There attitude, responsiveness, shyness, and a number of other things can totally depend on what is going on at home. The third grade teacher in the video who was trying to get the boy to do his work didn’t take home life into consideration. She simply thought the boy was daydreaming and off task. She went on to tell the boy he was the lowest in the class. The things we say to our students they will never forget. When the boy was told he was not very smart he believed it and carried his life that way. There are several instances when you look back you can remember exactly what a teacher said to you. As the teacher began to pry more the boy finally said, “my parents are getting a divorce” she simply walked away. Sometimes as teachers we think we are simply there to give curriculum and take grades. We are there for so much more. Students lives can be changed with simple words. I pray that I never discourage a child or make them feel they can’t do something. It is our responsibility as teachers to be our students head cheerleader and supporter. I pray I never see a boy like in the movie, and if I do I hope I will notice and try to turn it and him around.
The second video was excellent. That is exactly what every person needs to see. The quotes were so true. Teaching is not a profession it is a passion. Our students are so much more important than the content we teach. As teachers we constantly worry about the test scores, or the curriculum, when we forget the child. The students are ours for 7 hours a day. Think of how much we can influence them in that time. I am glad I am a teacher and I hope I am a molder of their lives and that I am a blessing to them not a curse.
Well the first video was extremely sad. Any time I see a video or read an article about a child who simply neglected it kills me inside. Even though this video was made several years ago and many teachers who watch it are saddened this situation happens everyday in schools across America. The boy in the video was bullied, neglected, and shown no attention. The principal of the school did not even know who the child was. The teacher thought he might have been in his Math class. Sometimes as teachers we do not realize things that can change a child. When the boy started to school he was just like any other student. Yes, he was a little shy but wanted to learn. This lasted him until he was in the third grade, and his parents started to get a divorce. We as teachers some times forget these students have home and personal lives. Students, especially today, deal with things that a child shouldn’t have to deal with. A child’s home life is there life. A child’s home life can make or break them. There attitude, responsiveness, shyness, and a number of other things can totally depend on what is going on at home. The third grade teacher in the video who was trying to get the boy to do his work didn’t take home life into consideration. She simply thought the boy was daydreaming and off task. She went on to tell the boy he was the lowest in the class. The things we say to our students they will never forget. When the boy was told he was not very smart he believed it and carried his life that way. There are several instances when you look back you can remember exactly what a teacher said to you. As the teacher began to pry more the boy finally said, “my parents are getting a divorce” she simply walked away. Sometimes as teachers we think we are simply there to give curriculum and take grades. We are there for so much more. Students lives can be changed with simple words. I pray that I never discourage a child or make them feel they can’t do something. It is our responsibility as teachers to be our students head cheerleader and supporter. I pray I never see a boy like in the movie, and if I do I hope I will notice and try to turn it and him around.
The second video was excellent. That is exactly what every person needs to see. The quotes were so true. Teaching is not a profession it is a passion. Our students are so much more important than the content we teach. As teachers we constantly worry about the test scores, or the curriculum, when we forget the child. The students are ours for 7 hours a day. Think of how much we can influence them in that time. I am glad I am a teacher and I hope I am a molder of their lives and that I am a blessing to them not a curse.
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