I got two sweet gifts from students this year. I am not a homeroom teacher, so there's never been loads of gifts. As a one-time mom of elementary students, I understand it financially!! Anyway, I got a golden (my description to kids) cup with a lid and hot chocolate/marshmallows enclosed and a palm tree LED candle. I love them, and I will keep them - if I may be truthful,in years past that hasn't always been the case. I think they are beautiful. I share this with you, my friends, so that you can see all sides of reality in the teaching world. Please don't take this wrong - this is not a complaint! I have, given the opportunity, always chosen the schools with a population that is more in need. I choose to teach darlings that may not have much. I will state with no qualms whatsoever that sharing with these young people is more rewarding than any fancy basket full of gifts. I get a deep satisfaction from what I can give them! If you are a teacher in a Title I or low-income school, you understand. There are five things that I try to give children on a daily basis. I believe giving these things is paramount to helping these young lives grow successfully.
First, I give them a positive interaction to start their day. It's a privilege to greet them at breakfast and call them by name. Asking if they are all right and encouraging them to have a great day is a great start to my day as well. Not all of these sweeties come from a routine of ease in the morning, so I do my best to instill confidence in them that school is calm, consistent and ready for them to do their best.
Second, I give small challenges. I give challenges they can meet. If they are a particularly rowdy individual, I encourage them to get right to work in the classroom without any fuss. I encourage them to say "yes m'am" three times and just follow the instruction. All types of students rise to the challenges. I encourage older ones to "kick their test in the rear end"! (I might even say "butt" and then act like I shouldn't have....it makes them laugh!) Sometimes they smile, laugh, or just hang their heads, but they all say that they'll try. After that, I make sure I instill confidence and tell them "I KNOW you can!" - with my most brilliant you-can-do-it smile.
Third, I give assistance. Someone took your headphones on the bus? Let's go get help. You accidentally came to school with you shirt inside-out? You have permission to go fix it. You lost the homework sheet? Let's try to find another one. Goodness knows my own children probably needed help in the morning in elementary school, in spite of my best efforts as a parent. The students know that they can trust me to help.
Fourth, I give hugs. Some little ones need "their hug" every day. Others just occasionally need a "hey, you're great" hug. We load them with responsibility and talk to them about how grown up they are all the time; but they are children. And sometimes they need a hug.
Fifth, I give them love. I started a few years ago telling my students that I love them. Saying it out loud, to their face. It felt weird at first, I've always been somewhat reserved, but when it comes to children, those words are magic. I tell them I love them with the first morning hug and I tell them when I am re-directing or correcting them. At the end of the 2017 school year, a little six-year-old in Jackson, MS was murdered during a car theft. It was driven home to me that these precious children can never hear those words enough - and I can do my part to say it.
Education has changed so much in the past century - I've personally witnessed the past thirty-five years from the teacher point of view. As we collect data and reduce children to scores and graphs, it's more important than ever to remember that love helps them grow equally as much as any work they may be doing. I am so grateful to work at a school at which every adult knows this; they greet, challenge, help, hug and love the children the same way I do. It's worth it.
