I used to think that being a “good teacher” meant knowing students. In my incessant quest for knowledge, another teacher and I decided to take a year to travel to various parts of México and visit the extended families of some of our students. Thinking I would come back with new information about students to use and share with others, I was surprised to return, instead, with a sense of never-ending-not-knowing and an understanding that any knowledge I may think I have about children is context specific, temporary, and with its own history. Trying, for example, to learn Spanish showed me that all language holds within a wealth of experiences and connotations that I can never tie down. Thus, not fully knowing students is an inescapable part of teaching, and my work of “good” teaching is never done. It just keeps me asking questions.
Sarah Bridges-Rhodes
Fowler Drive Elementary School, Athens, Georgia
Six years of teaching
Related Resources..
Children's Books from Other Countries
Editor(s): Carl M. Tomlinson
This annotated bibliography of children's books contains 724 titles from 29 countries printed between 1950 and 1996—all in English, many in translation. The titles, organized by genre, have been selected for their high quality.
Classroom Teacher's Guide to Struggling Readers, A
Author(s): Curt Dudley-Marling, Patricia Paugh
If you are an elementary teacher who struggles with struggling readers, Curt Dudley-Marling and Patricia Paugh provide you with quick, effective answers to your toughest questions.
NCTE Consulting Network Author