Rejuvenation

I think my favorite entry by far was number 134. I connected with it in a number of different ways. First, I liked the connection the teacher made to himself and his own classroom once he was put around other teachers who were also doing incredible things. It really showed that even though he thought he was doing well, he realized there was room for growth after all. He is in many ways an example of a good teacher because he was able to reflect on himself and learn from his feelings of inadequacy. I think that a lot of teachers aren't able to realize that they are of equal fault when students aren't succeeding in their classes.

Second, I really liked his realization. I agree that it is a teacher's job to make sure that all of their students have a voice in their classroom. That is part of what teaching is about. Yes, we want them to learn English, Math, Science and History. But we also want them to learn how those things connect to themselves and in that way learn who they really are. Teaching and learning is supposed to involve some soul searching.

Third, I was one of those kids. I moved from the town I had spent 11 years in to a place where I new no one. I had no friends and for a long time I didn't speak up in class. I had learned in my previous school that doing so labeled you as a "walking talking history book" and that many kids would only be interested in being your friend so they could get you to help them with their homework which left you with no time to do your own while at school and a ton to do when you got home. There were many classes in school that I remained silent in either because I didn't want to appear too smart or because I didn't want to have to help my friends with their work or simply because I thought that if I did speak up I would spend the rest of the class doing all the talking. Other kids hated that.

Fourth, I think it would be really easy to become this teacher. It is really easy to feel you are doing everything right for your students even thought your not. It is very easy to believe that because one or two students speak every class, or because you are moving through the material so quickly, that you are doing everything that is needed to provide your students with what they need to learn. There will always be the kids in the class who are not afraid to speak up. It is the number of kids in the back who are not voicing themselves that you should be concerned with.