Challenges

I had somewhat of a difficult time reading this second chapter “Anticipation” in Teaching Hope. So many of these teachers’ stories and the stories they told of their students were heart-wrenching and depressing, and in some cases it was hard to see the positive side or eventual happy outcome to the issues they had to deal with. While reading these stories I couldn’t help but think of the struggles, familial and financial, that I have had to deal with and confront in my life, especially some that are sprouting up now. With that said, however, I feel like I have lived a much more privileged life than so many of these students and teachers, and the issues that I have had to deal with seem like nothing in comparison to some of them.

One aspect that seemed evident about many of the stories in this chapter was that they were not taking place in rural Maine, where I plan to teach. I have never encountered someone who came from the projects or known anyone involved in shootings and gang-related crimes, and reading about these experiences made me stop and think about how I would react to having some of these students in my classroom someday. One of the most important things for me to do would be to show each student that I care about him or her, respect them, and value his or her presence as an individual learner in my classroom. I want my students to know that I can “get” them, and that I am someone that they can talk to.

Something I did while reading was to try and put myself in the position of one of these teachers; would I be secure enough to share my experiences with my students? So many of these teachers I admire for feeling safe and ready to share their past experiences with their students. I also am not a very affectionate person, and I cannot help but think that I will never be comfortable hugging a student despite the positive reaction the students in the stories seemed to have to their teachers hugging them when they were upset. I will always do my best in trying to console a child, and I never want to look back on my time with any of my students and regret not being able to connect and really get to know some of them.