Video: Teachers, Give Hope

by Guy E. White on 9 September, 2014

A friend of mine said that being a teacher is like being a servant. Not a servant like a maid, but rather a servant like a priest.

How was your childhood? My childhood was not perfect, but in many, many ways it was quite wonderful. It took lots of growth, empathy, and heart to understand that not all students are having the same type of childhood that I had. By learning more and more about my students, I learned a lesson about teaching.

Few people realize how difficult it is to manage the bladders of 35 school-kids each day. Top this off with missed assignments from absences, forgotten homework, and varying degrees of listening and retention ability, the day of the average teacher can be quite tiring. Teachers don’t have to imagine the feeling of being asked, “Did I miss anything important yesterday?” I’m a master of routines and systems. I can take three days’ worth of tasks for myself and hammer them out in about six hours. So, once I got my feet firmly planted in my classroom after a few weeks, I decided it was time to build systems and routines that would support the BEST of me and my students.

According to a 2012 survey conducted by the Child Welfare Information Gateway (https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/foster.cfm), 399,546 children were in foster care. As a teacher, I have interacted with dozens of foster kids through the years. Understanding the individual challenges faced by all students is important: it provides more opportunity for connection, context, and better learning by all. As I’ve gotten to know my students, I’ve learned a few key lessons along the way. This video showcases one of those lessons. I’m curious if you’ll be able to pick out the message.

I support foster parenting. My bride and I are not foster parents right now and we don’t have any plans to be. However, we’re strongly considering adopting one day. This video is hard to watch, but there is an underlying message here that I think is quite applicable to teachers. What do you think? Tell me what you think it is after watching the video!

ReMoved from HESCHLE on Vimeo.

So, what do you think?

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