Lessons Learned from Children

Part of the joy of being a teacher is being a student. The children we encounter as teachers year after year in our classrooms provide us with many valuable lessons that we carry with us throughout our professional careers and our lives. We can (and often do) learn something new from children every day.
An important lesson I have learned from children is to enjoy life and not take the "little things" (or the big things, for that matter) too seriously. Children remind me to have fun, set aside time for "play" in my busy work and school schedule, and to laugh constantly. The near-instantaneous turnaround children have is remarkable - one minute they are crying about a scraped knee or not being allowed a turn with a favorite toy, and the next minute they are smiling from ear to ear and living in the moment. Children don't hold grudges nor do they let life get them down.
Another critical lesson I have been fortunate enough to receive from children early in my career is to always be yourself. No pretense required. As evidenced in "Walking Trees", children admire you because you are their teacher, which automatically makes you their hero, as well. The children in Thelma Perry's class hound Ralph for his autograph for reasons far deeper than his status as a writer (72). The children want Ralph's autograph because he is a hero, a teacher who has made a direct, long-lasting impact on their lives.

Question #3 - Racial/Ethnic Groups

I believe that there are many valuable ways to expand your knowledge about other racial/ethnic groups. First, as I often do when I lack knowledge in a particular subject area, I would try to read about different racial/ethnic groups in order to gain an understanding of the individual history, practices, and overall identity related to each group. Second, directly participating in both everyday experiences (i.e. religious services, playground interactions) and cultural celebrations of various racial/ethnic groups can provide you with integral first-hand experience. The final, and perhaps most necessary, way to expand your knowledge base about other racial/ethnic groups is to ask many, varied questions of members of these groups themselves. Similar to participating in different racial/ethnic group events, gaining first-hand knowledge directly from members of these communities is both an invaluable and critical experience in expanding your racial/ethnic knowledge base.

One fresh-in-my-mind experience in which I exhibited bias against another ethnic group occurred during my undergraduate years at Hofstra University. During my tenure at Hofstra, I was an active member in Hillel, the primary organization for Jewish life on campus. One evening, during a Shabbat (Sabbath) service my junior year, an Asian American girl walked into the room prior to the start of the evening's service. She stayed for the entire service and the meal following. However, because she was rather quiet during the service itself (and because of her physical appearance) I assumed she was not Jewish and was simply participating as part of a class assignment. Only later did I find out that this girl was the product of an Asian American father and a Caucasian, Jewish mother and was eager to become a member of our organization. She ended up being an active, valuable member of Hillel during her college years, as well as a friend.