I usually hate it when anyone refers to teachers as heroes (I think it simplifies things and makes it easy for others to believe they can't help) but I find myself calling preschool teachers and early childhood interventionists heroes, because they can make such a profound difference.
When I taught third grade, I learned to tell my class at the beginning of the year that if anyone had ever called them "bad" or "stupid," that person was wrong. Most of them had already absorbed these labels as truth, and undoing that was incredibly difficult.
I told the early childhood educators, and added that they have a unique opportunity to change this. By the time I got the students, in third grade, it sometimes felt like it was too late* -- that their perceptions of themselves were already too ingrained to change. But when you're working with a three-year-old, this isn't the case. As educators, we can help these kids understand that learning differences are not a reason to give up, that speaking a home language that isn't English can be a strength and not a weakness, and that they can succeed, no matter what anyone else says.
These students will probably never earn enough money**, and they will work harder than almost anyone else I know. But they will change lives, drastically, and that is worth everything.
*I had a co-worker once who told me that he wanted to teach kindergarten instead of second grade because he felt like second grade was too late to make a difference. Although I strongly believe that it is never too late to make a difference, I understand what he was saying. Early intervention is very powerful.
**If your children are in preschool (or elementary), please don't give mugs to your teachers for holiday gifts. You don't have to give anything! A heartfelt card or drawing from your student, with a few words about your gratitude, is enough. But if you'd like to spend money on them, please make it a gift card or something you know they need. We all have too many mugs (and candles and lotion). But sometimes we struggle to buy groceries or go out to eat.
Comments