Buried Treasure Teaching...and you!

I remember reading a book in college written by a teacher who told the story of her relationship with one of her students.  She impacted the student greatly.  (One Child, by Torey Hayden)  If memory serves, she broke through to a child who was abused and shut down and made great inroads with the child.  I really wanted to be that type of teacher.  I think we all do.  Someone who steps in, does all they can, and finds the student moving forward.  This book impacted the way I thought about being a teacher.  (At the time, I was a college student on the journey toward teaching, but it truly altered my thought process concerning the future teaching I would be doing.)  This book was ultimately famous and many other people found it inspirational.

Sometimes, when I think about the difficult to reach student, I remember this lady's perseverance and determination to help a student, and it reminds me that the buried treasure of teaching is love.  Ultimately, love, time and attention bridged the gap for this young girl.

Today, I dealt with a child with an enormous chip on his shoulder.  He has so many chips on his shoulder that you could spend all day working at removing the chips, but never find the shoulder.  He uses a prevent defense in dealing with people.  Be as hateful and aggressive as you can so you can reject people before they reject you.  It breaks my heart.  In the summer, I am in a camp situation, so we are not dealing with the academic issues he may have.  His behavior is rooted in rejection.  We are trying to melt down the big chip and trying to teach him to use kind words and show regard and respect for other people.  Little by little, I see slight improvement, but we have many miles to go before we see the end of the line.

Ultimately, love will melt the chip on his shoulder.  Eventually, love will help him see his value to us.  Hopefully, love wins, and wins soon.

The hidden secret, the buried treasure of teaching is love...always love.  I'm glad that camp can help distill the main thing for me.  Keep the main thing the main thing as they say.

As I consider next school year, I will remember my buried treasure which multiplies when shared.

First published June 20, 2018