Sometimes school is downright discouraging.
There are the students who struggle academically. So much. As in, I wonder how they will ever catch up.
There are the students who struggle at home. Sometimes the glimpses into the chaos take my breath away.
They play video games that no children should play. Some of them seem to have free rein on YouTube. I heard the other day that this is the first generation of Americans that will be less educated than their parents.
It all makes me sad and...discouraged.
Yesterday though, we were reading a book about Abraham Lincoln and John F Kennedy. It was outlining the similarities and differences between the two. It talked about slavery and Jim Crow laws.
A student asked, "But Teacher, why would Black people not be able to go to the same school as white people?"
I said, "Because they were wrong."
I don't know how else to explain it.
When I read about the Emancipation Proclamation, and that it meant there were no more slaves, most of the class erupted into cheers.
It warmed my heart.
They are a diverse, multicultural group. Some of them speak other languages in addition to English and are navigating a world their parents don't understand as well. Some of them belong to churches and some of them don't. Some of them have strong families and some of them do not. I love that they don't seem to see each other as "other." I love that they recognize the inherent wrongness of racism.
It's not all discouragement.
1 comment:
There are many diversities. Some of them this and some of them that. But they all know that they have a 3rd grade teacher who loves them so much and would do anything for them. Don't discount the importance of that. It will make a difference in their lives.
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