As a person who works in early childhood education and development, as well as a person who has been a student the majority of my life, I love education. I love learning. My favorite days are the ones I say, "Wow, I didn't know that!" Sometimes, though, learning is hard. Education is difficult. School is not always the safest, most welcoming place for all students. For the teachers out there--this one is for you.

I wrote an article a while back about an influential teacher who knew more. I also wrote a piece about a group of influential little humans who taught me more. In my twenty years, I've been on both sides, teacher and student, and I've managed to learn from both. One of the most important lessons I received was the value of teachers knowing their students.

Coming from a small school, I was constantly able to interact with teachers on a one-on-one basis. From a majority of them, I learned of their life stories outside the school walls. That's the point: we talked about life. But some of them, I barely knew at all. Looking back, those were the teachers whose classrooms I felt the most anxious in, whose lessons I struggled to learn.

I firmly believe it's because we lacked a connection.

I recently stumbled upon a New York Times article summing up a book I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything For Our Kids by Kyle Schwartz. In her book, Ms. Schwartz reveals the answers she received from her third-grade students. She gave them a piece of paper starting with "I wish my teacher knew..."

The answers were eye-opening. It's important to note here that, typically, students spend more time with their teachers during the school year than any other adult(s). And teachers don't know with whom they are spending their time.

This is me asking--telling--teachers to do one thing differently in their classrooms. Ask your students, "What do you wish I knew?"

Now that I attend a small, liberal arts college and I spend a majority of my time in a couple of departments, I have formed relationships with professors. I feel that I can talk to most of them about my academic, professional, and personal successes and problems. They have made it known that they want to know their students. They want to know me.

My past teachers and professors with whom I felt most connected--with whom I felt more apt to learn from--knew me. They asked me about my multiple jobs and other classes. We have laughed over old stories, and quite a few of them have seen me cry over hardships. They have pushed me to do more, to try harder, to learn as much as possible. We have worked together on scholarships, publishing efforts, and projects I couldn't see the end of, let alone the beginning. They knew me, they know me, and I know that connection contributed to my success.

Please: teachers, professors, advisors...anyone who contributes to education of our minds--ask your students, "What do you wish I knew?" Let us teach you something.

And then try something else; let us learn about you, too.