"Why Is That Child So Rude"

Recently I read the article, "Why is that Child so Rude" by Beth Lindsay Templeton. The basis of the article centers around teachers assumptions about the fund of knowledge students have. It is easy to assume that all students should be operating with similar experiences because they are similar age and live in a similar area. But really every student and their experiences are so vast and varied that you cannot assume that any child has the same fund of knowledge as any other student.

This article reminded me a lot of the principals of Culturally Responsive Teaching. Basically CRT challenges teachers to teach students how and why to code switch while at school because everyone's home life and social expectations are different.

Trust

"You have to earn my trust". How many times have you heard or said that phrase? I don't think it's possible for me to count the number of times I have heard that phrase before. I used to say that to my students, but upon reflection, I think that doesn't work well in the classroom. If you tell a kid you have to earn my trust you are basically saying "listen, I don't trust you".  Do you ever actually allow students to earn your trust? But how? How do I know if they will work productively in the hallway if I never give them the opportunity to try? What if it doesn't go well one time? They are just never allowed to work in the hallway again because one time they were a shady cat?

The hard thing about trust is that students have to trust you or they aren't going to learn from you. The burden of trust is really on our shoulders as educators, not the other way around. I need to earn their trust... they already have mine.

"Teacher Shortage"

Peter Green, a contributing author at Forbes Magazine published an article earlier this year titled "We Need To Stop Talking About The Teacher Shortage".  The article talks about the fact that there isn't actually a teacher shortage. My favorite line from the article is "We need to stop calling it a teacher shortage. You can't solve a problem starting with the wrong diagnosis. If I can't buy a Porsche for $1.98, that doesn't mean there's an automobile shortage. If I can't get a fine dining meal for a buck, that doesn't mean there's a food shortage".

I remember this article circling around the internet being shared by my teacher friends and non-teacher friends alike. People outside of education often ask the question "If you aren't satisfied with your job and its pay... why don't you just get a new job?" In terms of being an ethical educator, I just don't think it's that simple. I worry all the time if I don't do this job and take care of these kids... who will?

Rock in My Shoe

I think if you ask any teacher why they became a teacher the answers you would get would all be similar. When I reflect on the reasons I myself went into teaching I think about how much I love to help people. The largest rock in my shoe is the entire education system and how difficult it is to get students help. I, a professional educator, should be able to say I have a student that needs more support than I can provide them in my classroom, how can we support this student in other ways? Instead, I am asked how I have differentiated for the student, have I called home, have I tried an intervention?

The red tape and established processes that make it difficult to identify students with special needs that aren't currently diagnosed is so disheartening that it makes me question if this job is really for me.