My first year teaching had me teaching sixth and seventh grade math at a middle school in 3rd Ward section of Houston, Tx. The school building and the school itself have so much history in the area as the first place for Blacks to get an education in the City of Houston. However, pride wasn't in the children. These children with their many problems, their many issues, but who really cared? Who actually heard them? Who would save them?
My first year of teaching came along with great advice from some veteran educators and the one piece of advice I would never forget, "Children can tell when someone honestly cares for them. Just be honest in your teachings and they'll respect you. Children can spot when you're faking it".
I came across this essay that reminded me of my early years in education. Children are innocent, they have a voice, but why are they- Seen. Not Heard ? Are they Invisible?
We were supposed to be reading some book, about some subject, for some test. My inability to remember which book, for what purpose, and its connection to whatever test, shows how important all of this really was-it wasn't. But our eighth-grade English teacher canonized this book as if it was going to save the world, as if it was going to save us. I harbored a deep distrust for this -and I wasn't the only one.
I wasn't the only one who didn't care because I wasn't the only one who wasn't listening. This set her off. She went......(more).
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