Teaching stories

Every teacher should probably write a book about the teaching experiences he or she has throughout his or her career. I always wanted to compile the funny sentences my students wrote in their essays or on tests, but have been too lazy to do so. And then there are the moments that one would rather not have, like I experienced this week. I was teaching my 9th grade bilingual students different body parts and injuries or pains that can happen. We got to "black eye", and I asked if anyone had ever experienced having a black eye? One girl, who started the year as a bright eyed, friendly, enthusiastic attentive young lady 3 weeks ago, piped up and said, "Yes! I've had a black eye?" Wrong teacher move #1: "So, how did you get the black eye?" Student: "My dad punched me." It's that awkward silence that falls over the room as no one, including me, knows quite how to respond appropriately to such a comment, that is so unnerving. I finally squeaked out a "Really?" "Yea, he really did!" "That must have been terrible!" I responded, employing my best teaching psychology tactics. "So, let's move on to the expression "swollen lip"; the attempt to distract everyone from the uncomfortable reality that this girl has just willingly uncovered before her new classmates. It's moments like these in the classroom that remind me that that I am not teaching a subject, I'm teaching students, I'm teaching people, and probably the most important thing I can do for them is to love them, because that may be the only thing they remember 10 years from now from their time spent in my class. www.ceokids.org