Reflections on Poverty, Bullies, Mr. Reub, and Child Abuse

I found many of these topics down right depressing.  And I think what makes them so depressing, is that there are SO MANY students who face these things everyday.  There will be countless number of students in my classrooms who need something extra.  This mad two big ideas come to mind for me: 1.  I HAVE to be diligent in looking for ways to get to know my students.  It is not optional, it is absolutely necessary, and it could actually be a life or death situation.  I need to try my hardest to get to know students and their families, and what they deal with, so that way I can try to best help them or meet their needs.  The reason that I know I must be so diligent about this, is it is really a personal issue that I must monitor.  There is no score for this, like a state assessment.  There is no percentile that my class will be ranked on for how many formed successful relationships with me.  There will be no REAL consequences visible on paper, if i don't do this.  There will be no FAIL or PASS for relationship building (although it could be reflected in grades).  This is an area, that I myself, must know is important and take the time to act on.  I must take time, make time, do whatever to be sure I am doing this.  This is MY standard for myself, even if the district, principle, whomever does not require it of me, I know I need to do it.  2.  The second thought this brought to mind : How in the world will I separate myself from the job at times, so that I can be successful in my home life?  I am a very emotional person, and easily carry other people's emotions even when not necessary.  I know that teaching is not a nine to five, where once you close the door, it leaves your mind until the next morning.  But, I think that some amount of separation from the job will be necessary for me to be successful in my own family.  How will I not take this baggage home with me every single night, if I am seeing these things in my classroom.  How will I find that balance and middle ground, on what makes me a good caring teacher vs.  someone who is neglectful of my own family, because my mind is always elsewhere. 

Bullying. What an ugly, nasty, sad topic that we must learn how to deal with, because it is definitely out there.  One of the interesting thing that came to my mind when we were learning about this was the Psychology of a Mob mentality.   The psychology of a mob, says that when participants of a large group are doing something "wrong"  members will often do things that they would not normally do, because they loose their personal identity to the mob.  They may feel invisible or hidden behind the crowd and do not necessarily utilize their own morals and beliefs.  I think this could be an interesting thing to understand and talk to students about (probably not in that specific of terms).  At ages, when peer pressure and fitting in are important to a degree that it is hard for adults to even remember, students may be more apt to follow a group, or do things that others are doing even if they do not agree.  It is this topic, and others like it, that character education could help tackle, and help to possibly prevent bullying.  I think that prevention could be so important, although I did like Margret's comment in class, that you can prevent all you want, but there should still be a plan for when it does occur.

I really loved Mr. Rueb's presentation.  It was sincere and insightful.  I did find a lot of it alarming, and somewhat depressing, but it also made me WANT to be a good teacher.  Student's need good teachers.  They don's need another friend, or a cool teacher, or just a really nice teacher, the need a GOOD and effective teacher.  Especially students who are struggling.  I need to care for them, and I need to do anything I can for them, but my goal must remain to effectively teach them