How Open House Lead to Moments of Humanity

Growth Mindset Poster

Earlier today, I took my son to his open house for 4th grade.  In past years, I have viewed this as “let’s get in, sign some forms, meet the teacher, and hurry on home.”  However, this year was different since I have come to realize the importance of not taking anything in education or even our world as granted.

When we entered his classroom, we were immediately greeted by an energetic and authentic Mrs. Thompson.  She is a well seasoned and experienced educator who is a master teacher and takes this charge seriously.  However, I was still amazed at how she made each student and their family feel like they were the only ones in the classroom.  She expressed her excitement at having my son and other students in her class. 

She created a moment where my son connected to her and the world seemed to stop.  It was what I will term a true “moment of humanity” - where two or more individuals create a moment of connection where each individual feels valued and included.  It is precisely these moments of humanity that we need more of as our students return back to school.  His teacher had spent considerable time and effort getting the room ready for her students, another signal of how she values her students.  She wants them to be in an environment where they are engaged and know that they are valued and belong.  

As we walked around the room, I noted a poster expressing growth mindset.  I firmly believe that by demonstrating her commitment to growth mindsets that our students will benefit.  Not all students will come into her classroom with the skills, abilities, and knowledge that her curriculum presumes they have.  The truth is that our curricula still project certain skills and abilities that may take longer to manifest in many students.  I, myself, was a bit of a late bloomer who failed a quarter of 6th grade math but went on to major in chemistry and excel in math.  

We must realize that these arbitrary measures may not be realistic for all students given their circumstances, experiences, and backgrounds.  The good teachers already know this.  One of my defining teaching moments involved teaching a group of 9th and 10th grade girls how to find the slope of a line given data points.  These students were from Yemen and working to master the English language.  Further, they faced challenges related toward cultural attitudes of educating females.  Nevertheless, they were determined.  As I started teaching one of the young ladies how to calculate slope, she asked to go and get her two cousins from lunch so they could learn too.  We used Microsoft Translate to help bridge the language gap and within a period of about 20 minutes, they were beginning to master how to calculate slope.  They showed amazing perseverance and commitment to learning this as we worked collaboratively.  As they would solve one problem, they wanted more to solve.  They actually seemed to be having fun solving for the slope of a line.  They did not let the many obstacles deter them from learning.  Instead, they used the resources available (a teacher, technology, their own desire to learn) to successfully develop the capacity to solve for slope.

As we begin this school year, let’s remember these shared experiences as we create moments of humanity for all students.  Even as our world continue to be more uncertain than certain, we, as educators, has the power and responsibility to create authentic relationships with our students.  Our students will increasingly look to us for more support and structure in this ever evolving world. Let us all work to create many “moments of humanity” both inside and outside of our classroom this year.  I know that my son’s teacher has already set the bar high for this.  I look forward to seeing how he and his classmates will grow under her.  But also, we need to remember that when we help others grow, we ourselves grow as well.  In creating #momentsofhumanity, we all benefit. A big thank you to Mrs. Thompson for already showing my son and his classmates that they are matter.  Let’s all work hard to create moments of humanity during this coming year.

I encourage you to share your moments of humanity by using the #momentsofhumanity and including any images, pictures, or experiences to share with others throughout this school year.