Have you ever had a class that came with a, "warning label"? My current 8th grade class came with just such a label. They were presented to me as a lazy, uninspired, middling-talented group of students, who would never match up to the class before them, and who were already being passed-up by their 7th grade peers. What is one to do with such an overture?
I did what every good teacher I have ever known does for such a group...
From the beginning of this year, I told them exactly how talented and special they are. I loved them all, not despite their flaws, but because of them. I have looked for, and found, the artists, writers, athletes, and super-heroes in each of them. Why? Because teachers are called to find those who are invisible.
My class last year was full to the brim with talent-- athletes, would-be scholars, school council politicians, you name it. Every possible type of potentially-successful personality was part of that class. It's easy to teach a class like that, where 90% of the students are already successful.
Yet within that class came some of the most memorable stories of my 9-year teaching career. There was a young man in that grade who didn't seem to particularly like school. He was a slight, cautious boy, who had generally avoided coming to class as much as possible the previous year. I found him intriguing, and began asking his opinions in class. Almost immediately, he began showing up more often. Suddenly, the other students in his grade realized the intellectual maturity belonging to this young man, when they'd never seen it before. He was involved in class, spending hours on literature and writing projects that he never had in previous years. At the end of the year, he received the, "Most Improved Student" award at eighth grade graduation. He had been invisible, and was no more.
One of the girls in this same grade was a sweet young lady with an incredible talent for drawing (a skill I envy). She was beautiful and talented, yet she looked upon this as a curse. I will never forget reading one of her compositions, in which she privately screamed at her classmates that the utopian world they believed they had created at our school was a sham-- that her classmates were mean, vicious, unforgiving people, and how she couldn't wait to get away from their school and their judgements.
I was given the honor of calling the names at 8th grade graduation, and watched as each student came forward to receive their certificate and hug their 8th grade teachers. There was no lack of enthusiasm, excitement, joy, and a few tears. I didn't feel particularly drawn to emotion until the afore-mentioned young lady stepped forward, sobbing uncontrollably. Her lament at leaving this place, her "friends", her youth, suddenly came pouring out as though a well-built dam in her soul was giving way. Her emotions, so raw, came flooding into my voice, and my own tears appeared as I called her name-- another invisible brought into the light.
May we always see those students who are overshadowed by the radiance of their peers.
Until the next bell,
~K
