Today in class I started my rules and expectations discussion the same way I always have in the past. I start by asking my scholars what they want to be when they grow up. They write it on a Post-it note and stick it on my whiteboard. I then go up and right WE WILL BE on the top. Saying that we will achieve those goals.
This year I took a little bit different turn with my lesson and decided to discuss my 4th grade experience. 4th Grade could have been a game changer for me. My educational journey could’ve gone a completely different way if I would’ve stayed at the school I was at after 4th grade. I hated school. I hated reading. I hated math. My teacher was gone for the majority of the year and I was taught by long-term subs. Basically an educational nightmare.
The school I went to was a typical suburban school. We had the kids that lived in section 8 housing, the rich kids, and the overly involved parents. From the outside it looked normal. When I think about what happened that year I get upset. Until fourth grade I loved school. That very same school was where I decided, as a kindergartner, that I wanted to be a teacher. My fourth grade year would’ve made me a completely different person. When I think about the kids I went to elementary school with, who I shared that fourth-grade classroom with, many have been in prison, jail, have had children, didn’t graduate high school, or work minimum-wage jobs. Not that that doesn’t happen in other schools because it does, but after 4th grade and my horrible experience my parents made the choice to move me. And thank God for that.
Fast forward to September of my fifth grade year...I walked in the doors of a new school. The school my dad walked down the halls of 30 years before. This was a progressive school. Worlds different then the school I had gone to before. (I’m crying writing this because this is the story I told my kids today.) That first day of school my fifth-grade year changed my entire life. I had a teacher who believed in me. I was YEARS behind academically, but he and the team at Stonebridge didn't care and took the time to work with me and truly showed me that I could learn. And that it’s OK to do things on your own terms and that it’s OK to be different! Being different is awesome. That one teacher it’s still a hugely important part of my life and if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be the teacher or person that I am.
That teacher brought out my highly organized side, he taught me how to solve word problems on the board in front of class even though I wanted to vomit the whole time. He taught me that a party could be thrown for any occasion if I did it myself. He taught me how to multiply decimals by calculating sales tax and ordering Chipotle for my class. He taught me that being unique is so much more important than being normal.
Today, I talked about things like test anxiety, respect, hard work, and the importance of simply showing up with my kids. My students come from places much tougher thank I could ever imagine yet, they all were in awe of my story.
In sharing my personal story of having sever test anxiety in college, I used an example from one of my scholars. I had this scholar in my class last year and he always complained that he was a “bad reader” he wasn’t, he just was nervous and so knowing that about him this year at testing time I simply put a Post-it note over the letter level on the outside of the book. This scholar read two levels higher than what he thought he could just because there was a stinking Post-it note on the book. So getting to the point that same scholar that doubted himself raised his hand during our class discussion about expectations and he told me “the most important thing to do is to believe in yourself every day and even on the days you don’t know that Ms. Brine will.” As I wrote those words on my whiteboard and tried to hold back my tears all I could think about was the fact that I could potentially be his Jurek. His inspirational teacher and the person that he always remembers. The person that pops into his head when he needs motivation. The person who believes in him.
That’s my goal. If I can inspire and motivate even a few I’ll have successfully done the work I’ve set out to do!
Catherine