Learning Together

It wasn’t long ago that I met a teacher, Steve, in his mid-thirties. Steve and I were chatting about his teaching experiences and he had many stories to tell. One story he told me stood out.

About 10 years ago, when he was just beginning his career, he had a “challenging” student. The student spoke and acted out, skipped school, didn’t pay attention in class, etc. That school year, the student was expelled, and was not allowed to return to that school for two years.

Two years passed, and Steve found out that the student was back at that school and in his class again. While he felt bad for feeling this way, he was completely unhappy that he would have to deal with this student again.

Steve decided that he would make his best effort to try to get to know the student as a person and understand who he is. He didn’t want anymore trouble from him.

As the year progressed, Steve became friends with the student. The student would stay after class to talk to Steve about problems he was facing, he would ask Steve about his day, and when there was a new student who started out in the middle of the year and was getting bullied, this student stood up for him.

Steve told me during our conversation that that year really shaped who he is as a teacher as well as a person outside of the classroom–that he learned more from that student than any textbook could ever teach him.

How have your past students shaped who you are as a teacher and what have you learned from them?

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