Common Sense Classroom

My own children brought this little gem home from daycare several years ago.  I remember stifling many a chortle as they used the phrase to cope with life’s little frustrations and disappointments.  After a time, I began using it anytime they would complain about the way things were going.  From there, as you may have guessed, it didn’t take long for it to creep into my “teacher talk.”  I have to admit, I have begun to believe that the phrase has a little “magic” to it.  It can quite effectively turn a frown into a grin, and it has such a nice rhythm to it, that the kids can’t help but join in the refrain anytime I pull it out of my bag of tricks.  But you know, upon reflection, I think that there is a little more depth to this little pearl of wisdom than I had previously realized.

It occured to me, that most teachers I have met over the past 18 years or so (even the really good ones), are primarily focused on student deficits.  It seems like we are programmed to immediately notice the weaknesses in our students.  I can’t count the number of times I hear educators talking about what kids can’t do.  Yikes!  If we spend all of our time focused on the negative, how can we possibly accentuate the positive? 

The truth is that it really doesn’t matter who your students are, what they can do, or where they have been - they all have one thing in common . . . they have strengths!  We as educators have to get past our preconceived ideas about what students should “look like”  when they walk through our doors.  It is always amazing to me how smart kids become when I believe they are smart, and how much they can learn when I step up and give them the opportunity.  Sure, I’m “wrung out” at the end of most days, and truth be told, there aren’t many teachers in the building that would get in line to spend the day with my classroom “crew”; but I wouldn’t trade a single second that I have had with these amazing kiddos.  As we have explored blogs, wikis, Skype conferencing, and other Web 2.0 treasure troves; I truly believe I’ve learned as much from my young apprentices as they have from me.  What a gift!   Who could ask for anything more?

Darren Draper’s “Becoming a Better Teacher” post on Drape’s Takes reminded me of a Reading Recovery training session I attended several years ago.  I remember vividly the moment Dr. Nancy Anderson completely changed my perspective as a teacher. She shared that with every teaching decision she made,  she asked herself one question, “Why am I doing this, and how is it good for this kid?”  

As teachers, we have so many reasons for doing the things we do in the classroom.  We follow the state curriculum, district objectives, content area curriculum, and curriculum office/campus initiatives.  We have favorite units, things we have always taught, things our team likes to do, and the next thing that appears in the textbook.  There is the newest technology tool that we need to try, in order to remain on the “cutting edge.” We even make sure that we address all of the “pet peeves” of the next year’s grade level, so they won’t be disappointed in the “new crop” they are inheriting.  In the midst of all of this “stuff” do we lose site of our most important purpose – meeting the needs of the kiddos?

The thing I love most about collaborating with my colleagues, on and beyond my campus, is the way it helps me to continuously reevaluate what I am doing with my students.  Sometimes it is easy to get bogged down in the mire of academic expectations, but I always try to take a moment to ask myself Nancy’s question.  “Why am I doing this, and how is it good for these kids?”  Sometimes it causes me to make a quick change to what I am about to teach, sometimes it doesn’t.  But it does accomplish one thing - without fail. It reminds me that I am not just teaching a curriculum, I am teaching children.  After all, isn’t that why we all got into this game in the first place?