Rejuvenation

This section of Teaching Hope was an interesting one in the sense that some stories really illuminated the "aha" moments that I hope to have in my classroom someday, while others described the challenging scenarios I know I will have to confront. I enjoyed reading many of the stories, like the one about pen pals and how they were successful in having students engage in intimate story-telling and secret sharing with people via letters that they had never met before. I also appreciated reading about the accomplished field trips that the teachers and their students were able to participate in.
The story of Manie and how he changed his previously set views on the Holocaust after winning the opportunity to visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum with his teacher. He grew up listening to his family say things about how they supported what Hitler "accomplished." I know that I will have to face students who grew up in families where things like this are said, or discriminatory behaviors are the norm. I worry about how I will be able to handle situations when students bring these views into the classroom, and I hope I will be able to create opportunities to enlighten students and educate them on history and the importance of not allowing the past to repeat itself.
One quote that I really liked from one of the teachers was that the job of every teacher is "to make every student feel welcome, to make every student feel she or he belongs, and to give every student a voice to be heard". I appreciated this perspective on the job of teaching because it speaks to my philosophy and how I feel about what I want to accomplish in my classroom.