As a future teacher, and a current practicum student, I have the privilege to spend time in the classroom and see how children learn. From their daily tasks to the common core curriculum, I observe and assist. I make mental notes of what was good and what needs to be improved in my own lesson planning. I’m not saying that teachers are perfect. There’s no such teacher. There are some lessons that aren’t always in the curriculum, whether it’s something that gets overlooked, or people don’t want to talk about it. As a teacher, it’s more than just teaching the basics, or even facts. It’s about a learning environment that helps a child grow and develop with the world around them. Sometimes, as teachers, we need to be real with our students. Here’s a few ideas on how.
1. Creativity with art
Creativity should always be encouraged. This applies specifically for younger children, but I believe that this can be for anyone. In one of my college courses, we were asked to use paint and pieces of cardboard. We were allowed to create whatever we wanted. Everyone in the class got into the project, creating unique and different works of art. The same should happen for students in the classroom. Something fun and open-ended, while being educational, is always a great idea to incorporate in the classroom. You never know what your student will create.
2. All kinds of families
With the recent law about gay marriage, this can be a touchy subject. No matter what your views are, I don’t see the problem in letting your students know about all types of families. Not all children will have a mom and a dad. Some will have one parent or even live with grandparents. Some families might have two dads. It’s important to incorporate this into the classroom, because it adds to the idea of acceptance to students, who may be different from you.
3. Acceptance to all our classmates
With that being said, we should teach students to be accepting of all their classmates. We may look different, have different backgrounds or even speak different languages. This shouldn’t change the fact that we are all here to learn. Think about how classrooms would look if more time was put to teaching students to be more accepting of others. I can see how it can decrease bullying, because everyone will be more kind to each other, regardless of differences seen.
4. Teaching about the good, bad and ugly
It’s not easy to teach about poverty, or the outside world. Just because some students are young, doesn’t mean we shouldn't be upfront and real to them. We would be doing an injustice to students by not giving them a general understanding of the real world. As teachers, we sometimes believe we should shelter our students to save them from damage. Why can’t we help them become more aware?
5. Compassion
This is plain and simple. We need to teach compassion. This doesn’t mean talking about it necessarily; it means teachers showing this to their students. As teachers we need to show that we care, which in turn will get students to act the same.
6. To love oneself
Lastly, loving oneself. There were few times that teachers helped me in loving myself. We aren’t talking about letting your looks get to your head. Students get discouraged in school, and we don’t know their lives at home. I believe this is the most important for teachers to remember, considering we spend so much time with them. We may not see it, but a few words of encouragement to assure even just one student may change their lives forever.
