Hearing and Feeling is Believing
- The Life-Long Learner
- Oct 31, 2018
- 3 min read
I recently stumbled upon a TED Talk that made me cry. If you know me, you know that I cry way too easily when it comes to the kind, compassionate Facebook videos. But, another type of video that always gets me is videos that have to do with teaching children. This post hit close to home. As a child and still today, I have a strong relationship with my family and have never wanted for anything.
However, as a pre-service teacher I have heard about countless stories and encountered many children first hand who have very difficult lives at the age of 6 or 8. These students have dealt with things that no one should go through, especially a child. Some children may or may not get food at home. Their parents don't care about their school work and maybe they have a younger sibling to take care of. The point is - school is not their main concern. How could it be when you had to wake up early to help your little sister get ready for school, your exhausted and you haven't eaten since lunch time the day before?
Aside from basic needs (food, shelter, water) these children lack something that is vitally important for their development. C o n n e c t i o n s and r e l a t i o n s h i p s. Students need someone to root for, believe in, and uplift them. The ideas that are presented to them in childhood will become embedded in children, and will affect them deeper than parents or others in their life may think.
Below I have attached the TED Talk that sparked my water works last week. (It may have the same effect on you...). Please watch and listen carefully.
There's an old saying that "seeing is believing", but I'm here to tell you that hearing and feeling is much more important in the classroom. Heartworthy Learning came to be because of the impact I see in regards to emotional development and meaningful connections in the classroom. Teachers main job is to teach - we all understand that. But, students - some more than others - need to hear why they are important. They have to hear positive messages about their abilities and feel valued inside the classroom and out to succeed in the classroom and life.
Students are not just numbers on a roster or a test score. Students are people, with many needs, and very vulnerable mindsets. (They are still growing and developing!) What students hear over and over again they will start to believe. What they feel over and over again they will internalize. Hearing things like "You're a dumb lazy kid. Get out of my way!" and feeling ashamed, embarrassed, and very small, a child will grow up believing that. He or she will have no confidence and think they are a small insignificant person. Teachers can not change parents, experiences or the past for a child. But, we can change our students mindsets by making them BELIEVE through hearing and feeling that they belong and they are valued. When you see a troubled or insecure student, even a temporary field experience teacher, remind them as one of my favorite movie quotes says, "You is kind. You is smart. You is important." - The Help.
Mckenna,
I have seen this TED talk and I cried also! It is really important for teachers to keep their students in mind as people and not just numbers on a roster. We have always been taught that we need to believe in our students and this video made it even more clear how much we can impact our students with just simple actions that we can take.
It didn't hit me about the special relationships that students and teachers share as I discovered that I wanted to be a teacher. I had good relationships with most of my teachers and came from a stable home, so I always felt thankful in that regard. My very first field experience at an after-school program in Lima made me realize there are many students are not as lucky, and it changed my view. I realized that all students have different events happening in their daily lives and that can affect their performance. It's always important to treat each student with respect and be cognizant of anything that could be affecting their life.
This post is great and emotional. As a kid I was fortunate to grow up with a great loving family, but I always new it wasn't like this everywhere. When I thought about others as a kid, all I wanted to do was help people. I wanted to become a teacher. I want to help children learn and become better people and be there for them when there parents might not be. This was a beautiful post.
This post is so relatable for anyone who truly cares for children and especially those who educate them. I love the use of font styles and bold words. This is an amazing post and a great read!
This is a wonderful post. I know personally, I got into teaching for the love of not only mathematics, but of relationships. Just as you describe, I want to be that role model figure that these students desperately need. Thank you for sharing this and being willing to be a positive change in the harsh world we live in.