One Person Making A Difference
Submitted
by Ramona Hall
Archild
School
Little Rock, Arkansas
Past Teaching Assignments:
Opelousas,
Louisiana Grades 1-5
Present
Teaching Assignment:
Some
years ago Charles Barkley a well-known top basketball player appeared on a
television commercial stating that he wasn’t a role model.
After the September 11th disaster, Vince McMahon co-owner of
World Wrestling Entertainment appeared on television relaying to children that
it is the brave fireman who courageously gave their lives to protect their
fellow Americans whom they should emulate.
These firemen sacrificed their lives and stood on the front line never
budging while the world began to crumble down around them.
Their bravery in light of this dark episode woke up America that we as
a people must come together. All
across America fire fighters became our heroes- our role models.
By
far, television, music and environment have an impact on children. With an
abundance of working, single-parent homes, children are getting full access to
television in which they are watching more and more without parental
supervision. Television and music
bombard children with acts of hate, rage and violence.
In urban areas, violence is no stranger to children. When violence
becomes a daily occurrence, children become more desensitized to violence.
For them it becomes a way to channel their anger and it motivates their
behavior responses to situations. They
are being taught that violence is the answer.
Studies have shown that a child’s brain isn’t fully developed until
their early 20’s. Much like
their bodies, their brains are being developed over the years.
As a result, during their toddler years their brains are not developed
enough to decipher what is and is not appropriate behavior or responses.
They must be taught and reminded through good role models.
With
guns prevalently on the scene comes a rise in the number of shootings.
With its glorification through music and television, guns have quickly
become available to children as a means of solving problems.
The continuous exposure to guns can impact even the youngest child.
Within my unit of 3-4 year-old preschool students, not a day goes by
that at least one male student doesn’t successfully build a gun using Lego
blocks or pretends to use their fingers or some object to “shoot” at other
students. Prior to the abundance
of guns found these days, children solved their problems through fighting and
name-calling. At least 100
million homes have guns that are unlocked making them available to children.
Possessing a gun comes with a great responsibility.
As a parent it is their job to ensure that their gun is properly stored
and hidden. If not for the easy
accessibility of guns to children, there wouldn’t have been a Columbine, an
Oklahoma or any other instance where a school day ended in gunshots. These
school shootings have shown America that our schools are becoming a danger
zone for gunfire. If guns were
not as freely accessible, children would have to resort to other means of
dealing with their anger. They
would have to learn how to effectively communicate their feelings and develop
their judgment skills on how to deal with life’s various situations.
They wouldn’t have to
take such drastic, life-changing measures.
There
is a saying that it takes an entire village to raise a child.
If that is true then we as a people are failing.
The Columbine shootings proved how indifference caused the community to
disregard the signs. The two boys
who were the shooters were outcasts and misfits looking to strike back at
those who rejected them. In the
first moments of hearing about Columbine, people were horrified.
How could something like this happen at a school? What triggered such
an act? How did the boys get access to guns and explosives? Following the
shootings, school administrators, students, parents and the community began to
piece together the previous days leading up to the shootings.
In the wake of these revelations, one very important question was
raised: Why couldn’t the
teachers and parents foresee the warning signs? In “Why Children turn
Violent” Mr. Cowley stated that killings could be prevented if teachers and
parents paid more attention to what children say.
Growing up children are taught to look to their parents as role models.
From the moment a child come into the world, they are watching and
learning from their parents. They
are walking tape recorders mimicking and repeating what they see and hear.
Children are looking to their parents for answers on how they should
behave in the world. Since children are being influenced by their
surroundings, parents should always be conscious of what their children are
exposed to. Our environment has
the ability to shape and mold our values, behavior and morals.
In the poem entitled “Children Learn what they Live” the author
describes how children may react to the behaviors they are exposed to at home.
A child’s home life affects them as to the type of person they may
become later in life.
Sadly, there are homes where parents are not viewed as a good role
model. A good role model is
conscious of their actions. They’re willing to be an example to others as to
the type of person that they should be. For
a good model, they are always aware that they are being watched for how they
react and behave. To do the right
thing is their goal. Everyone
should know right from wrong whether or not we do the right thing or not.
Doing the right thing is a reflection on us as a person.
It shows to the others if we are trustworthy or even honest.
Can
teachers fill the void in the lives of their students?
Without a doubt, the answer is no.
No one but a parent can truly fill the emptiness in his or her
child’s life. Parents and
children have an unbreakable bond. What
a teacher can do is shape and mold that child’s mind.
Day in and day out teachers are tackling with each child’s home life
through their anger, defiance and rebellion as they manifest in the classroom.
While students are filling the classrooms with disturbances, other
students are feeling discouraged. We
teach our children that education is a way out but how can they learn when the
teacher is helpless in controlling students.
Suffering from “teacher burn-out”, there are those who have lost
hope. But there are those
teachers who have gone the last mile for their students.
By going head to head with the school administration and the community,
they have become an inspiration and role models in their fight for student’s
welfare and academics.
Among these, we have Joe Clark former principal of New Jersey school
East Side High. East Side was a
predominantly black school filled with drugs and violence.
The school’s low academic achievement had placed in the list to be
shut down. Joe Clark a former
teacher now a newly appointed principal went into the school and made history.
With his unorthodox actions and wild-eyed behaviors, he pushed and
pushed his students to be better and into passing the exam that would enable
the school to remain open. Having
the community and local school board against him, he was willing to sacrifice
everything to ensure the safety and well-being of his students, even if it
meant being fired and arrested. Mr.
Jaime Escalante of Garfield High was a computer teacher who went against the
grain and proposed to teach his senior high class Calculus.
In his quest to unlock the limitless potential of his students, he
succeeded in educating them to pass the Advance Placement Exam that is used to
achieve college acceptance. Filled
with a class of Hispanic students who had no college aspiration, each of them
passed the exam ranging from perfect to superior scores.
Louann Johnson showed that if teaching wasn’t your first profession,
you could still make a difference if you care enough.
In her book My Posse don’t do
Homework she described her success in reaching the lives of her students
who came from violent, poverty-filled neighborhoods
Each of these educators stands as a role model.
Their courage, dedication, hard work and unrelentless pursuit for
education are a testament of the power that teachers have.
They believed that each student, even those that society has given up
on, had the capability to be better. They can be more and rise above their
circumstances. They believed in
their potential and weren’t afraid to be open and candid with their
students. If teachers are to help
children become better people, they must be honest and communicate with their
students. By opening their minds
through education, they were shown another world.
Joe Clark, Jaime Escalante and Louann Johnson each possessed a heart
and spirit to do the right thing. Coming
across drug dealers, gang members and unwed mothers, they taught their
students that there was a way out of their situations, life styles and
environment. They went against
the opinions of their colleagues and made a difference.
Neither of them allowed their students to use their environment as an
excuse. In the words of Louann
Johnson, “You have a choice.”
What do we do when adults refuse to be good role models?
Neither Mr. Clark, Mr. Escalante nor Ms. Johnson was in any way
special. They simply believed in
their students and cared about their futures.
That is a teacher’s job. Teachers
open up student’s minds to achieve the best in life.
We, as teachers, must continue to strive for our students.
From our teacher role models, we take their fighting spirit and use it
to reach each child. We
come together and be the role models to guide children.
In helping children it takes a team effort.
The community as well as the students themselves must work together.
By showing genuine interest and concern in our students, we let them
know we care about them as we encourage and support them every step of the
way. A teacher’s sole purpose
is to educate each child academically, socially and morally.
Teachers open doors to wonderful, exciting experiences and choices in
life. We are there to expand that
child’s horizons beyond their present life as they look to the future filled
with infinite possibilities for them. Teachers
are guides encouraging students to achieve a fulfilling life- to take
advantage of ALL of the opportunities that life has.
Questions
Regarding the Required Reading
Q1-Comment
on the 6-year-old with a telescope and his interest in abstract ideas.
How unusual was he? Have
you encountered students with his similar focus and reasoning abilities?
Discuss.
While
the 6-year-old was unusual, his comments and ideas are not.
Everyday children are looking for answers as to why something happens
and why things are the way they are. They
are very inquisitive and question EVERYTHING.
Children are very observant and able to generalize on a certain plane.
They can apply their prior knowledge to a certain extent.
They are exposed to more and more each day and they take the
information in and how it’s process depends upon the child’s world and how
he or she perceives it.
Q2-Were you surprised to
read that young children may be “ethically introspective citizens”?
Discuss
Absolutely not. By mere
definition ethical means “being in accordance with the accepted principals
of right and wrong….” and the root introspection means “contemplation of
one’s own thoughts, feelings and sensations”.
Together they define being aware of and knowing the difference between
what is right and what is wrong. From
parents and teachers, children are being taught right and wrong or what is
acceptable and what is not through rules and morals.
They are learning how to be “ethically introspective citizens”.
Everyday children are showing us that they know right from wrong
through the form of tattling. If
you are the parent(s) of at least two children you’ve experienced one child
running to tell you that the other child hit them.
At my school the students are given common language commands such as
“Hands at home”, “Fix your feet”, “Rocks on ground”, “ No
kicking”, “Use inside voices’ etc.
Since the students are taught that their hands are to be at home, they
will come to the teacher and tell if a student hit them.
Hence, they have learned that hitting is wrong.
Children are also learning how to “ethically introspective
citizens” through sympathy. If
one of my students is crying, another child will come and ask why he or she is
crying. Once given an
explanation, they will pat the child and sometimes say it is ok and ask the
child to play with them or they will let the child play with one of their
toys. They are learning about
feelings and emotions so that they will develop morally.
Q3-Do you agree that
morality can be taught in all kinds of classes.
Give example from experience.
Yes. Morals are being
taught to children every day through various means. Our morals are either a
lesson that we are taught about life or it can refer to how we conduct
ourselves. Throughout the
day in schools children are taught history and
of the actions of those before them.
We teach our children that we must learn from the mistakes of our
ancestors. Many Disney movies are
teaching our children morals. In
the true story movie “Remember the Titans” Coach Boone played by Denzel
Washington is an African-American football coach during a high school’s
first integration. While at
football camp, he takes them on a run to the Gettysberg’s war site.
With both African-American and white students, he reminds them of the
war casulites and its fight over hatred of the color of a man’s skin.
He tells them that they must learn from their ancestors who died
fighting the same battle that they are fighting.
Recently, my preschool students viewed the Disney movie
“Pinocchio”. We know that
Pinocchio’s nose grew every time that he told a lie.
Through this cartoon children are learning that telling a lie is wrong
and there are consequences of lying.
Q4-What
was meant by the phrase encountered in the required reading:
“We all are moral witnesses”?
Describe an instance in the classroom when you were a good moral
witness.
During
my first year of teaching I had a 5th grader who was reading and
spelling on the 3rd grade level.
No matter how much he seemed to study he was failing every Spelling
test. His self-esteem was going
down each time he saw his Spelling test grade.
It broke my heart to see him try so hard and no be able to succeed.
Eventually he just stopped studying and said he was dumb and couldn’t
spell. In the Teacher’s
Spelling Manuel, there was a test already made for each Spelling unit.
The test consisted of four spellings of a word and the student had to
fill in the circle in front of the word that was spelled correctly.
When I decided that this was the test that I would give the student, he
began passing his Spelling exams. Eventually
he was able to progress up to spelling some of the words.
Even though he was still not spelling on a 5th grade level,
he was feeling better about himself and he proved to himself that he could
learn.
Q5-
Define courage. Tell of a
youngster who has had the courage to stand up for his/her beliefs/values.
Q6-Comment
on the discussion on Courage that took place during a 4th grade
history lesson, as outlined in the required reading.
Share an experience where your class spontaneously engaged in a moral
analysis.
Q7-
How is a good person described at the end of the required reading A
Bronx Tale?
In the required reading A Bronx
Tale a good person is described as an “alert witness” aware of not
only his or her actions but also on the actions of others.
A good person thinks ahead of what the outcome would be as a result of
their decision. They weigh each
decision, debating the pros and cons before taking a route.
Knowing their decision has an impact on themselves and others, a good
person struggles to decide which outcome is the better.
For a good person, the will to do the right thing is always present.
Q8-What should a teacher do when he/she sees a student trying to get another student in trouble or somehow disrupting the class?
The teacher should remind the students about their behavior and the
consequences that they face. The
student who is the source of trouble should be called upon to do a job or task
by the teacher. Children love
attention either positive or negative. By
removing the student the teacher has removed the student from the temptation
to cause trouble. This
redirection will cause the student to focus their thoughts elsewhere.
It shows them that they can get receive positive attention.
Q9-The Harry Singer Foundation pilot project, Dream Machine, White Hats and Problem Solvers are based on the premise that students have the capacity to act responsibly, interact with adults in the community and make mature decisions. In light, of the article by Shannon Brownlee redrawing the development of the teen brain, do you think the Foundation may be giving teens too much credit?
No, I don’t think the Foundation is giving the teens too much credit.
Shannon Brownlee states that “The brain’s capacity for growth
through adolescence may also indicate that even troubled teenagers can still
learn restraint, judgment and empathy”.
With that in mind, teens have the CAPACITY to act responsibly.
By interacting with adults more in making decisions, teenagers will
strengthen their brains in decision-making.
To continue with Mrs. Brownlee’s quote, “Kids who exercise their
brains in effect, by learning to marshal their thoughts, to measure their
impulses and to understand abstract concepts are laying the neural foundation
that will serve them for the rest of their lives.” In essence by allowing
the students to interact with adults and with more exposure to making
decisions, you are assisting them in the development of their brains.
Q10-If you think your student are capable, will you engage a group in one of our pilot projects? If not, why not?
If there is pilot project geared toward my students, the director will have to make the decision.