Share Your Care

I'm always trying to find inspiration in the classroom, inspire myself, inspire the kids. I have a natural enthusiasm for teaching my subject (I'm a high school math and science teacher). And I'm a teacher because I care for kids. I want to ease their transition to adulthood and help influence their growth towards more mature behaviour. Each class I teach, I take some time to talk about smart choices, how to live a life and earning a living.

This week my principal brought into our school a motivational speaker, Andy Thibodeau. His enthusiasm is catching, and his appreciation for the simultaneous similarity and diversity of students across Canada is inspiring.

Andy is perhaps is the most widely traveled school speaker I've listened to: he's visited a lot of high schools across Canada. I lived abroad in Europe for a number of years and I sincerely appreciate that diversity and similarity coexist without contradiction.

Caring is contagious, says Andy Thibodeau. He says that teenagers will only have the courage to take a risk at school if they know that their teacher cares. What I mean by risk is anything that may influence a kids' social standing or popularity. Remember what high school felt like? To a high school student, a risk can be when they:

• join a club or team that their friends aren't part of
• stay behind to ask for extra help
• make a new friend outside their peer group
• admit enjoyment of an unpopular hobby

Simply owning up to your own personal uniqueness is a risk to a high school student.  Andy's message for teachers is that the little acts of care that we perform are just as significant as teaching the subject matter.

I'm a teacher because I care. I enjoy seeing a student grow a little taller from a genuine compliment, gain skills over course of a single semester, make a mistake but continue to try and try again.  The best parts of my day are the words of greetings and smiles I share with kids in the hallway as I walk to and from class. I'm rewarded whenever I experience the contagious enthusiasm of 30 teenagers are working on an extracurricular project together, their energy makes the air sparkle and my day brighter.

As a follow-up with my class I discussed this fantastic video:
Syed Muzamil Hasan Zaidi - 22 Random Acts of Kindness

Speaker Information:
Andy Thibodeau - http://www.andypresentations.com