Teaching ALL Children

Thank you, Mary Kathryn, for this poignant window into the world of teaching.

We Are Responsible For Children

We are responsible for children who put chocolate fingers everywhere, who like to be tickled, who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants, who sneak Popsicles before supper, who erase holes in Math workbooks, who can never find their shoes.

We are responsible for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire, who can’t bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers, who are born in places we wouldn’t be caught dead, who never got to the circus, who live in an x-rated world.

We are responsible for children who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions, who sleep with the dog and bury goldfish, who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money, who cover themselves with band aids and sing off key, who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink, who slurp their soup.

We are responsible for those who never get dessert, who have no safe blanket to drag behind them, who watch their parents watch them die, who can’t find any bread to steal, who don’t have any rooms to clean up, whose pictures aren’t on anybody’s dresser, whose monsters are real.

We are responsible for children who spend all their allowance before Tuesday, who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food, who like ghost stories, who shove dirty clothes under the bed, and never rinse out the tub, who get visits from the tooth fairy, who don’t like to be kissed in front of the carpool, who squirm in church and scream in the phone, whose smiles can make us cry.

We are responsible for those whose nightmares come in the daytime, who will eat anything, who have never seen a dentist, who aren’t spoiled by anybody, who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep, who live and move, but have no being.

We are responsible for children who want to be carried and for those who must, for those we never give up on and for those who don’t get a second chance, for those we smother…. And for those who will grab the hand of anyone kind enough to offer it.
– Ina Hughes

Rules, Rules, Rules

Please feel free to post any concerns or questions you have about rules in the classroom. What are the classroom rules for some of the grade levels at Partnership? How are they facilitated? Are they effective? What makes a good rule? What thoughts do you have about rules as you think about future practice?

Consider the purpose of rules:safety, meeting goals, and telling students what to do. Rules must pass the Dead Man's Rule!

Journal Response #3: Diversity

Is diversity celebrated or overlooked in your clinical experience? Complete the diversity worksheet. Describe, analyze and reflect on the results. How is diversity addressed? What are some practices you might use in your own classroom? Were there practices that you would change or improve upon? Why is diversity an important aspect in classroom culture? What is the fit for diversity in the Conceptual Framework?

Please post your response by 12:00 pm March, 16th.

Journal Response #2: Teacher Interview

Interview a teacher using the following questions as a guide (you make ask any questions you deem important or any follow up questions). Describe, analyze and reflect upon the teacher's responses and summarize what you learned from the interview. How does the teacher's responses align with the Conceptual Framework?

1. What experiences influenced you to become a teacher?
2. Describe your work history.
3. What is your teaching style and how do you accommodate the different learning styles in your classroom?
4. What do you consider to be your greatest strengths and how do you use them in teaching?
5. How do you challenge the slow learner and the advanced learner in the same class?
6. What procedures do you use to evaluate student progress besides using tests?
7. What current trends in public education do you consider to be very positive? Negative? Why?

Please maintain confidentiality by either using a pseudo name or initials only when referring to the interviewed teacher.

Please post before midnight on February 10th, 2008.