Year 10: Week 9 - What I Love Part 2

Aloud

I love reading books to children. If I had spare time I would volunteer to do read-aloud anywhere people would take me. When I taught special ed, and general classroom, doing reading books to students was one of my favorite thing to do. Children are given permission to enjoy so many things that adults also enjoy but for one reason or another aren’t valued as adult experiences. One of these special things that I feel that all people love is being told stories. Kids are the lucky ones who in the best of schools get to experiences almost every single day.

I am a music teacher and I only see my students twice a week for 40 minutes. I have a lot of stuff in my curriculum that is important so I don’t have a lot of time to do read aloud even when it’s a musical book that enriches the music curriculum. So, I integrate books as much as I can, and dive deep into the experience of reading to my students. I don’t do voice, but I do sound effects. I love playing with the volume and pitch of my voice and building up to dramatic silences.

The thing I love the most about reading books to students is that it’s an opening for further conversations, and connections. Books are in invitation to discuss, share, and reflect. It’s a beautiful part of teaching, that I always enjoy.

Opening The House

Even though I'm not a fan of coming in on the weekends, open houses, which are often on Saturdays are a great opportunity to help my school communicate to others what is special, important and of value at my school.

During these events sometimes I get direct questions and other times I am given space to simply talk. My job in these moments is to help others see what I love about education and my school, and while there is a level of salesmanship going on here, it doesn’t feel phony.

I believe in education, I believe in my school, and I believe that there is something important about the work that I do with my students. There are times that I have to mold my answers to what others are saying and sometimes steer the conversation in another direction, but more often than not these exchanges feel organic, authentic and meaningful.

I have empathy for these parents having gone through a similar process with my own son, and I do my best to work through the awkwardness of the conversations. What I enjoy most is helping the parents see that there is a place that sees children and values them because of their diversity and  the different facets of their identity. When visitors understand this, I can see excitement in their eyes as the hope that a school will value their children as they love them grows. It’s a conversation that turns doubt into a maybe, and helps transforms pessimism into hope.