Atttitude of Gratitude, Day 11

November 11: What is the most important ‘lesson’ you want to teach your students?

I'm teaching a new class this year; U. S. History. I don't remember too much about being a student of U. S. History when I was a student. I do remember taking a Washington State History class at the local community college, and being bored out of my mind. The textbook was wordy and that made it difficult to become engaged; our instructor was the author of the textbook, and while he loved the topic, it didn't translate into a memorable class. It should have been a wonderful class, but it wasn't. And that is a shame.

I don't want to be that kind of teacher. I want my students to think in terms of humanity - history happened to people, and they are people, too. I want them be able to relate to what those people were going through, and to understand that while those people might not have realized they were making history, they were. If my students understand that they, too, are in the middle of history, I think I will have done my job.

In my psychology class, I want the same thing for my students. Understanding that all people experience development the same way, that people can change the outcome of a child's life by understanding how children grow and learn - my students need to get this. I also look forward to the section where we talk about mental illness, because they need to develop empathy for those affected, and so that means they need to understand what the illness is, and how to treat it, and to see those people as people instead of objects of ridicule.


Finally, if my students get that I'm a life-long learner, I may be making headway. In both of my classes I do a Fact of the Day on my daily agenda. This Day in History and Brain Facts take a little more time to do, but I want my kids to see how interesting life is! On Monday, I forgot to put in the Brain Fact, and I got called out on it. I found one pretty quickly - whew! What was pretty cool was the kid who pointed it out was the one kid who is failing my class, mostly because he refuses to write anything down! He is, however, a good thinker, observant and interested in lots of things, and while not always articulate, he makes his point. Of all the kids in my class, I'm stoked that he is paying enough attention to miss something simple, but obviously something important enough to keep doing.