Reflecting on what was happening as she grew up has helped Rachel to understand what is go-
ing on in the life of her adolescent students. Currently, she teaches in a junior high school but
hopes eventually to work at an alternative high school. “I want to go back into that environment
and help young people who are like me when I was their age. Many teachers can be successful
working where I work now. But those students really need me. Because I came from there, I feel a
sense of responsibility to return.”—Alan Singer
A teacher’s most important job is to pay attention to what is going on with students and to
care about what happens to them. I am not afraid to show students that I care. Caring puts
the majority of them on your side, which helps you with everything you have to do as a
teacher. Your feelings show through if you are genuine and students respond.
Because I pay attention to them, I have been able to help students work through prob-
lems that would have interfered with their schoolwork if allowed to continue. I had a boy in
my class who never purchased the loose-leaf binder that is required in my school. I knew
this was a signal of other problems in his life. I wrote a note on his homework and told him
that I had an extra binder he could have. About a month later he asked me, “Could I have
that loose-leaf you talked about?” I said, “Sure. Tomorrow.” I did not really have an extra one
in school. I meant to pick one up, never did, and that night I forgot about it. The next morn-
ing when I was already at school I remembered. I tore my room up before I found a 1-inch
black binder, just the kind this boy would like. When I gave it to him, he was in shock. He
said, “For me?” like he could not believe it. It was a great moment for both of us. I think it
made the difference in the year for him.
I get tremendous satisfaction when a student responds to me. Once a student from the
previous year left a four-page letter in my mailbox telling me how much she missed my smile
every morning and how much she appreciated my caring. I saw her later on and gave her a
big hug and let her know I was always here for her if she needed anything, even if it was just
a smile.
I try to create a sense of community in my classroom by building on the idea that we are a
union. We cannot succeed as individuals. We need to help each other, speak to each other
and listen to each other. One student asked me why I always make them listen to each other.
I told him, “We can learn from everyone, not just the teacher.” I believe a lot of the world’s
problem’s would be resolved if we would just take the time to listen to others.
I find that most students like my approach to classroom community and they work hard to
achieve our class goals. We set rules and procedures as a class. If we need to address a prob-
lem, I ask them how they would like to address it. This gives them a strong sense of what it is
like to take responsibility for themselves and others and what it means to work together.
I deal with conflict between students or between myself and a student by trying to calm
the situation down, not aggravate it. If a student is angry with me, I am the one who needs to
turn the situation around. If a problem is getting too heated, no learning will take place for
the student. I try to avoid fighting or arguing because I know kids want to have the last word.
I know I always did. But if I allow that to happen, it can undermine our class community. So it
is often better to just let the conflict fizzle out. Nothing is so important that it cannot wait un-
til later.
Conflicts between students are more difficult to resolve because two student egos are in-
volved, not just one. Although many teachers claim you need to address bad behavior or
put-downs as they arise, I do not do it that way. If one student calls another a name, even a
racial name, I tend just to say, “That’s enough.” I am not sure this is completely appropriate,
but I believe that handling something on the spot often makes the situation worse. We can
get back to the issue and deal with it as a community when the tension has eased off. I do
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