Teachers Who Get It

[xoxoxoBruce]

No, not that "it" ya pervert.
Teachers who understand their job is more than the three Rs. That's the easy part, much more difficult is understanding the kids social problems, and trying to guide the ones who need help fitting in.

This teacher gets it.

Every Friday afternoon Chase’s teacher asks her students to take out a piece of paper and write down the names of four children with whom they’d like to sit the following week. The children know that these requests may or may not be honored. She also asks the students to nominate one student whom they believe has been an exceptional classroom citizen that week. All ballots are privately submitted to her.

And every single Friday afternoon, after the students go home, Chase’s teacher takes out those slips of paper, places them in front of her and studies them. She looks for patterns.

Who is not getting requested by anyone else?

Who doesn’t even know who to request?

Who never gets noticed enough to be nominated?

Who had a million friends last week and none this week?

You see, Chase’s teacher is not looking for a new seating chart or “exceptional citizens.” Chase’s teacher is looking for lonely children. She’s looking for children who are struggling to connect with other children. She’s identifying the little ones who are falling through the cracks of the class’s social life. She is discovering whose gifts are going unnoticed by their peers. And she’s pinning down- right away- who’s being bullied and who is doing the bullying.
~snip~
As Chase’s teacher explained this simple, ingenious idea – I stared at her with my mouth hanging open. “How long have you been using this system?” I said.

Ever since Columbine, she said. Every single Friday afternoon since Columbine.

[DanaC]

God. How many people here would have had happier childhoods with a teacher like that taking notice/

[BigV]

Question:

How is this important and how can it be measured by our standardized tests?

[xoxoxoBruce]

It's only important to the children (and maybe their parents), and can't be measured by standardized tests, which is why it's not encouraged, and likely in many school districts discouraged, by the administrators.

[Happy Monkey]

My question is - and then what?

Noticing that a kid is being bullied or marginalized is a good first step, but it's a first step that is often made even without this kind of deliberate system. What's the next step?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Most likely when the bully is informed the teacher knows, they'll back off.
Maybe if the entire class is made aware of the bully's actions are frowned on, peer pressure might work.
If not, then school system, and/or parental intervention.
If that fails, kill 'em.