Do You Know Me?

This week we were challenged by Dr. Dudley Flood to know all of our students as individuals. He later said that once we felt like we knew our students as individuals that we should compare our original beliefs to our previous beliefs. In my personal experiences, I admit that I have passed judgment on people before knowing them. I think if we are all honest with our selves we do the same thing. This is especially true when we look at individuals from other cultures. Point in case, how often when you get your class list do you ask others about the students you will have in your class. We race to think about how many students from each ethnicity or how many boys and how many girls we have. Before we get to know them we have a perception of who they are, how they behave, and worst of all how much their parents value the education of their child.

I learned this week that the power of knowing our students as individuals helps make the school as a whole a better place. Think about the mosaics our fifth graders created and hung in the cafeteria this week. Our fifth graders taught us that by knowing how each piece fit individually on the mosaics a masterpiece could be created. Each person had an individual role, knowing when and where they fit, they felt valued to be part of the creation of something great. Each of our classrooms is a mosaic. We are all creating this years work of art. Let's not have any Van Goghs out there.

The same is true of our school. If we work to know each of our students as individuals like each piece of the mosaic our finished product will be a masterpiece. One that is not measured by test scores, but a positive learning experience that motivates higher education and productive citizenship. If you don't trust this, look at the pictures to the right of your screen and what our students created this week. This type of work was not done by students that are low achievers. This was done by great kids, with a determination for success. Guiding them down that path is our challenge. How do we do that? Get to know who they are! Challenge your perceptions. Go deeper with the students on a personal level than you ever have. We had a teacher in our building that became a great assistant principal that used to do a home visit with each of her students before the school year began so that she could get to know them. It's not by accisdent that she always had the best scores in her grade level.

I read a story with a first grader today. The title of his story was "My Favorite Vacation." My inferencing skills were way off, by the title I thought we would be talking about Disney World or the Beach. His vacation was to his teacher assistants house last year, when he got to feed the geese and play at her house. It's not by coincidence that this child is having a greater year this year than last! How many of us talk about our favorite vacations the same way. Do you understand the power and influence you can have? A phone call, a special note, a visit to a baseball game, or a dance recital. These lessons go beyond the classroom, and raise the learning capacity of our students.

Thank you Dr. Flood, and thank you Ms. Crosier. You have motivated me this week to understand our students as individuals, because the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.

Humbly Yours,

Mike