Many of you have probably seen the post gone viral on Facebook and Twitter and all over the news of the third grade teacher Kyle Schwartz, who gave students an assignment in an effort to get to know them better. It was simply titled, "I wish my teacher knew".
"She allowed students to write anonymously but found that most wanted to include their name and even share it with the class. She said:
“Some notes are heartbreaking like the first #iwishmyteacherknew tweet which read, ‘I wish my teacher knew I don’t have pencils at home to do my homework.’ I care deeply about each and every one of my students and I don’t want any of them to have to suffer the consequences of living in poverty, which is my main motivation for teaching.”
Here is the link to the full article with pictures from her kids' and teachers around the world who have shared their students' responses. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/04/17/i-wish-my-teacher-knew-poignant-notes-from-students/
This post touched my heart deeply. Shanna Peeples speaks of bonding with her students. This is a lesson teachers know well. Without knowing your students, teaching is not possible. You have to know their interests, have knowledge of their families, their worries, their dreams, their favorite color, their cat's name, and any other "in" you can find in order to help them feel safe in your classroom. Some of these kids desperately need a safe environment or at the very least an adult who is interested in them. This doesn't apply to all students, some of them come from happy, stable homes with loving parents but these students still learn more when they know their teacher genuinely cares about them as a person.
I was inspired by Kyle Schwartz and also our National Teacher of the Year- Shanna Peeples to try the "I wish my teacher knew..." writing assignment. I gave my students several different options. 1. The writing could go into their writing notebook, never to be seen by my eyes or anyone elses...the writing goes home with them at the end of the year. 2. They could write and then share with the class. 3. They could write and then give it to me privately. 4. They could write and then throw it away.
***Another twist, they also did not have to be writing to me...They could be writing to a previous teacher or perhaps a teacher at an after school program or a Sunday school teacher. Any teacher in their life at any point.
I have to tell you. I have never been more moved or inspired by the young people in my classroom. They are so brave to put themselves out there the way they did. Each student was willing to either share with the class or give their writing to me to read privately. I don't think at only 8 years old, I would have had their courage. Some of them shared things that I never would have had the words to say at their age. And they were so HONEST. So very HONEST. Many of them have given me permission to share their writing on our class blog. So please join me in honoring these brave young souls. I did promise to remove their names though. Some of them were more than one page- the dotted lines separate new pieces. *****Please keep in mind- these are the pieces that my students wanted published on the blog. I had permission from each student to publish these and removed the author's names from each piece as promised. and some of them are NOT directed toward me or even school teachers at all. Some were writing to previous teachers or teachers in different settings they are involved in. Several students wrote nice things about me that made my heart sing but there are others here that nearly broke my heart and even more unpublished that opened my eyes and heart even more. Teachers, you just never know until you ask. If you have just a short time...I would recommend this. It was truly powerful for getting to know my students even better and allowing some of them an outlet they desperately needed. Writing has always been there and they have always been able to write about topics of their choosing but sometimes they just need that door opened up for them.
Open the door.
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