Teacher Moments

Teachers know the moments – the times in a classroom or small group when everything comes together. The kids have eager looks on their faces, they ask questions, their eyes are big, and they show emotion, connection, and excitement for learning. They even want to learn more. Isn’t that beautiful? These moments are rare, but they make every warning, correction, reminder, repetition and deep breath worthwhile.
The first was unexpected. I took a chance on getting some of the ninth graders interested in literature and asked some of the more fluent students if they would like to start a book club during their lunch hour. I wanted them to engage in deeper academic discussions that would expand their vocabulary and challenge them to express their thoughts on a variety of ideas and topics; social issues, history, etc. I thought it would be good to use historical fiction to open the door to different levels of thinking, so I suggested Number the Stars. This book was written at a fifth grade reading level, but it incorporates information about the Resistance efforts of World War II - so they were in. I wish I could have captured our first discussion on video to play for my college professors. They would have been elated. These students made connections between World War II and the Khmer Rouge that I couldn’t have made on my own, which was exciting to witness as an educator... but equally sobering, as they pulled from the real stories of their parents and grandparents. These kids have grown up hearing about the harsh reality of Pol Pot and the Killing Fields. Their own aunts and uncles and grandparents were lost during that time. They didn’t experience it themselves, but they are only one generation away from an extremely devastating period of history, and today they are living in a nation that is still desperately trying to recover.
They compared the stories of their own relatives with the treatment of the Jewish population. They questioned whether or not it was okay for the Danish people fight back in violent ways. They wondered how one person could gain so much power, and they identified the possible motives for such evil behavior. A student ran to find a globe so we could compare the size of Denmark to the size of Germany, then concluded that because Germany was larger, they must have had more soldiers and a stronger military. Now I’m no historian, and I don’t know as many facts as I should, but I was fascinated by the depth of these ideas … that were being expressed in their second language. The English scores are not high at our school, but this showed me how important it is to provide opportunities for students to demonstrate their knowledge in different ways - they may have used the wrong verbe tense, but they shared powerful ideas and asked big questions.
The second big moment was a little big lighter, and it had me smiling all night. The founders of the school and donors visited this week, which was a very special time for the students and staff. We wanted to express our gratitude…so we did so in song during a midweek church service. I tried to convince the students to let me accompany them with my harmonica, but I was shot down. The song of choice: Lean on Me. Classic. I sang that song for three weeks straight – three class periods every day, in my sleep, when I woke up, in the tuk tuk. Getting sixty-two kids to sing a song, or even a single note, in a unified fashion is no small chore. So we practiced, and the students loved it. They got the clapping and the steps down, and it turned into a legitimate Sister Act routine. We designated a boy to take over my role as conductor (to be honest, I had a hard time giving up control)… and he rocked it. He was so animated - he had rhythm and a whole lot of presence in that small body. He led the choir like a little Mozart. I wish you could have seen the nerves and the smiles. I don’t know what it’s like to be a mom, but when they sang for the church, founders and donors, I felt so proud. More importantly, it was obvious that they felt proud. Each student stepped off the stage looking like he or she had won an Oscar. That's what we hope for, right? We want to create opportunities for kids and empower them to do something they feel great about.