This semester has brought unforgettable lessons, experiences, and friends with it, but my favorite story I have to share is about my two students at a local elementary school.
For my Diversity in American Education class, I had to complete a Service Learning Project where I partnered with an organization in the community to be a classroom volunteer or mentor for elementary school students. And, I am so grateful I had this opportunity this semester, because it truly has changed my life.
I have always sort of known I wanted to be an elementary school teacher, but the thought of teaching a whole group of young children about history, reading, writing, science, math, and other valuable life lessons has also been intimidating. I am so lucky to have had such amazing teachers in my school career, and I really want to be the extraordinary teacher who changes my students lives too. And until I was paired with my lovely students this year, I never knew how much of an impact teachers and mentors can make on students, and the impact students can have on us.
Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
The two students I worked with needed individualized attention in math, and so when I went to their classroom, I would sit and talk them through each question, making sure they used their reading strategies to differentiate the question from the information given. A few weeks in, I noticed they really only wanted me to give them the answers. At that point, I was both frustrated and devastated because I thought I was doing so much more than just giving them the answers; I thought I was actually helping them.
In one session, one student said, “Miss M, you’re only here to give us the answers!” and to that I replied, “That is not why I am here. I am here to help you, and if you don’t want my help, then you can complete your homework on your own.” It seems a little harsh, but I was so mad at myself. I really wanted these students to absorb the strategies for math that their classmates were well on their way to understanding, and just when I thought all my hard work and mentoring was for nothing, these students surprised me.
When I walked into the classroom a few weeks ago, the teacher had taped word problems to the boards all around the room for students to walk around and complete. I was worried because word problems were not my forte, but the teacher told me all I had to do was make sure the students knew whether they were doing multiplication, division, subtraction, or addition. Easy right?
When my students walked in, they ran and hugged me as they had each time I “magically” appeared in their classroom. The teacher gave the class directions, and we were off on our first word problem. I read the problem with the students and began to figure out the answer in my head, and when the students were struggling, I prompted them with, “Well, are we doing multiplication, division, subtraction, or addition?” and after a few moments, they had the right answer. Then, we moved onto a few more problems and I found myself really struggling to keep up with the students. They were finding the answer before I was even finished reading the problem!
At one question, I was so confused and I did not want my students to think less of me, but I could not figure out the answer. So, I let my guard down and said, “You know what guys, I honestly have no idea how to do this problem, let’s ask a friend before we move on, okay?” They were shocked!
“Miss M, did you pass third grade?!” Yes, one of my students actually said that. It was the best response I ever could have imagined, and after we talked to another classmate, who explained to me how to work out the problem, we had the answer. This experience happened a few more times, and I found myself saying, “See, you guys are figuring out the answer before I am! Look how much you have grown in math! I am SO proud of you both!” And for the rest of that class period, I kept saying how proud I was of them, and that with my help of talking out the problems; they were learning math concepts better and faster than I was!
Needless to say, these two students have changed my life. I now know I can be a teacher, and I can make a difference in students' lives, and even they can make an impact on mine.
To my future elementary school teachers, be brave and go teach your students, and remember:
