From a Sea of Faces, Individuals Emerge

T minus just over a month left in my student teaching assignment.

The first week I was here, I had trouble distinguishing any of my students. They all looked alike, and generic. They are mostly hispanic, they dress like your typical high school students in jeans and t-shirts. I had to have my seating chart out every day to take roll. I teach 5 class periods; all but one has 24 students. How do you keep them all straight?

Little by little, the individuals emerged. There is Shane the tuba player in first period, sharp as a tack but with attitude. Always the first one done, but never done completely right. Bored, all the time. Started giving him extra work! There are the Anas, now "Ana Basketball" and Ana Tigrette" who sit in the same seat in first and third. There is Jose the talkative in sixth and Jose the quiet in first. There is Carlos, who gives me free sandwich coupons, and Lauren, who wants to be a cosmetologist. There are the sad stories-the girl in first period who is in the hospital with uncontrolled diabetes, who takes care of her baby, her mother who is on dialysis, and her younger brother. The very pregnant 16 year old in sixth period who has just been put on bed rest, her baby is due in 2 weeks. How do they cope and stay in school? Some of them have obstacles I can't even imagine.

In short, they've become people to me, not just faces. I am going to miss all of them when I leave in a month. I have heard high school teachers say they don't really "know" their students, that it is hard to form relationships when you see them for only 50 minutes a day. These students of mine WANT to have personal relationships with their teachers. They are so pleased when I remember that they play the drums, or want to be a fireman. it's definitely a lesson I will take with me when I leave.

So here's to Yuvanelli the Spanish poet, Mario who is a flirt and wants to be a teacher, Steve who owns 44 pairs of sneakers, even Ryan who threw his cell phone across the room and stomped out of class a couple of weeks ago (bless him--PLEASE--he transferred schools after that episode). They are all unique, special, and important in this world. They deserve to be treated as such by teachers.