We had to come up with seven headlines in yearbook today for those faculty pages. I divided the kids into five groups, heading each group with a returning yearbook staffer, and in 10 minutes they had to come up with as many headlines as they could. We came back together and, without naming the group, I read the headlines, one at a time, and the whole class voted, thumbs up/thumbs down.
One of the headlines was, “we care,” which got not just thumbs down, but some boos. Wait a minute, teachers DO care, I exclaim. “Mrs. Zody, not all teachers are like you,” was the reply from a new kid who hardly knows me. Okay, what does this mean?
I think that their perception of caring is different than ours. When caring takes the form of not letting them slide by or holding them accountable, I don’t think it is perceived as caring. Plus, I think it’s a matter of if the student likes the teacher.
So, I still don’t know if his comment about me was good or bad.
It means you care, and they know that (and I’m guessing you don’t “let them slide”.)
I hear this from patients, too – “not all doctors are like you”. I think most of my colleagues do care, but either don’t have the skills to express it in a way patients can understand or are so snowed under by the system that they can’t find their own hearts.
I harangue and harass and sometimes kids don’t like that, especially kids who are in my class for the first time. I was pretty shocked when the kids didn’t want to include the “we care” headline as I’ve always considered our faculty pretty caring, but maybe certainabsurdity is right, their view of caring is much different from mine.
Kids see through all the crapola we throw at them. They know exactly who is genuine, and who is fake. They would never share that comment with someone who did not care. It’s not about what you do with them–ie let them slide or hold them to high standards–it’s that spirit you guide them with. That doesn’t come from words or lesson plans, comes from that internal energy that gets shared with the kids whether you know it or not. Obviously ya got some of that special mojo and are working it with the kids.
I have also found that many teachers who say they care about the kids, care about the grades the kids get, not about the kids themselves….in so many ways your kid’s comment is uplifting, but when I get a comment like that it often brings me down to think that they spend so much time with teachers each day that really don’t care.
The number one thing that determines a students success is not if a teacher cares about their kids, but if the kids belive that the teacher cares about them.