I was lying in bed last night thinking about some of the kids who crossed my path in previous years. I was scrolling through Facebook where I am still connected with many of these kids, although they are now grown up and have children of their own. I noticed one student who grew up in dire circumstances.
Their mother left them at a very young age and had no contact with them. The father was an alcoholic and they had it very rough. He was just a little boy with no guidance and I took him under my wing. This shy ,scared little kid, turned out to be an amazing, strong, independent man who now has his own children and he means the world to them. It was beautiful to look at his picture and to see him after so many years.
I have been a teacher for a very long time, and there has been many kids through my hands. I used to love connecting with the odd kids, and even though I know I am not supposed to, I always had a favorite.
It just happened naturally and it's not as if I would do something special with this one favorite student, I just connected with them on a totally different level.
I have always had somewhat of a gift where kids with issues at home, always come and spill the beans to me. I spent many hours outside on the stairs talking to kids about personal issues, instead of in the class teaching.
Of course the other kids will continue with work, but the time I spent outside on the stairs I believe, made somewhat of an impact on these children.
I knew that these kids were growing up in "bad" circumstances, so I went out of my way to motivate these kids in such a way that their upbringing would not affect their adult lives so much.
People don't really understand how a child can be affected through words and sometimes a parent will say something that will negatively impact a child for the rest of their lives.
I have helped many students through divorces, and they survived it. Some of them even turned out better than expected. There were always a few kids who stood out and that had an impact on MY life. Usually it is a teacher who has an impact on kids lives, but there are many kids during my time as a teacher who has inspired me to become a better person.
I have always been quite a philosophical person and I usually try to say something meaningful during lessons, so that it might inspire some children. With age comes wisdom so in later years I have become more dramatic and sometimes I think the kids actually enjoy it.
Sometimes they even make fun of it and tell me that I am preaching again, but I know they listen, and it will impact them positively.
My favorite saying of all time is this:
I hope that this post will inspire other teachers to become more attentive to their student's feelings and emotions.
It's easier to fix a broken child than to try and fix a broken adult.
