What My Students Bring With Them To The Classroom

Students bring to the classroom their life experiences that vary with each individual child. Some students have had nurturing parents and grandparents who have exposed them to a multitude of meaningful and positive experiences that come from travel and solid planned educational experiences. Other students have been cast aside with little stimulus and negligent life experiences that prevent them from realizing, at this point in their lives, the richness of experience life has to offer. However, all children are curious about things in general. Those who have had a rich background just have a head start at developing vocabulary and are usually more quickly able to continue the learning process that began in the homes of their parents and grandparents. The students with less life experience may need more resourses to help them as they begin to learn vocabulary and language skills.

I believe that all students have inside their heads the following things. They wish to be treated with respect and to be treated with fairness regardless of their life experience befor coming to school. They want to be welcomed by their teachers and make to feel that they have value and that their teacher wants them to be successful. They seek acceptance because they soon realize that they are not like everyone else. Students quickly understand the pecking order among their peer group, but they expect and deserve the respect that a teacher should provide in a safe classroom environment.

Teachers should create both a visually beautiful and personally safe and nurturing environment for students. They should feel welcome and understand that their individual differences are valued, accepted and respected.

...