When one of your students calls you, “Ma,” do you know what that means? It is a sign of respect for you. Such was the case on the last day I taught in middle school in 2007. My home room students gathered around my desk and gave me a cake that said, “Thank you, Ma Maier.” My students and I had made our homeroom time together like a home. I was so proud of each and everyone one of them. God had given me the most wonderful gift I have ever received; they were like my own children. At the end of the day, their parents came to show appreciation, and tears flowed down my face like a river, one tear for everyone of my children.
In remembering that very special moment, I wonder if all teachers realize how very special they are to their students and the responsibility they carry for these precious gifts from God. By helping our children to make sense of their lives, we make sense of ours. Not every teacher has this ability, but for those who do, they help their students to find their voices and to become independent, inventive, innovative, and creative. In some way, teachers can help their students to light a candle in a very dark room. When we least expect it, they will make a difference in the world.
One of the goals for teachers today, regardless of the subjects, should be helping their students understand how our nation has become so divided, so prone to quickly react to situations rather than respectfully discussing major issues and finding solutions to those issues. We need to realize we are one nation of many diverse cultures and values, not a nation where no one but the wealthy matter.
Our high schools are microcosms of the real world; one way to understand our differences is by asking our students questions about their likes and dislikes, moving onto questions about their lives, and finally, moving onto questions about how they would change the world. These questions should be respectful and never put any one culture down. Children learn hate, anger, greed, and violence by the way their parents react to the world. By the same process, children learn to love, to be joyful, to help others, and to be peaceful human beings. More importantly, our children need to learn that we grow the most when sacrifice and suffering are a part of our lives. How we react to those two things determines who we become as adults.
Another way to encourage our students to be decent and kind human beings is by having them journal about what is going on in their lives. If your students know that only you will read these journals, they will grow to trust you and that some things need to be held private and not shared with their peers. A special closet to hold these journals, with a lock on the door, helps students share their special thoughts and may lead to a better understanding by the teacher of students’ behavior. It does not matter what subject … math, history, science, music, physical education, or art … the written word becomes the student’s voice and a light into their souls.
It is snowing again, and I always love when pure white snow begins to fall. There is a special beauty in tiny flakes and a gentle wind blowing them around on the ground. I am not as fond of blackened snow where the mud and grease from car tires burn ugly spots into the once beautiful snow and the cold goes directly into your bones. Similarly, many children hear that they cannot do something from frustrated parents or people of authority. They are told that there are many reasons why things will not change by television shows, the news media, and by power-grabbing politicians. We need to raise up our students to be courageous and to persevere, despite the negativity of the world we live in. Their time to change things is right around the corner, and we need to clear their pathways of all our preconceived ideas about how the world should be.
In the end, our children, our students, will make the changes necessary to create a better world. If we give them the independence, the ability to be inventive, the chances for innovation, and provide creative paths for a brighter future as a nation and as a world, there will be little mud and grease on the newly-fallen, pure, white snow. When we light their lamps for education in these darkened rooms of today, they will survive, will stand up to demand more from their governments, and will make their voices known to the world. More importantly, they will call their parents and people of authority who have earned their respect and trust, “Ma,” because they will know and understand the true meaning of love, integrity, and courage.
Anna Hartt
