Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire (R2P Post 1)

“As someone who is on the front lines every day, I am well aware that getting kids to behave is one of the toughest jobs in the world.  We’re all working way too many hours, and if a homework chart with gold stars gets kids to do their work, that’s good enough for many. But it is no longer good enough for me.  I think we can all do better.” (Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire, Rafe Esquith, page 17) I was assigned to read this book 3 years ago in a 200 level education psych class at HACC.  We were going to have weekly discussions about it and I was not at all excited. I figured it was just another boring book to be added to my course load. But when I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down.  It was as if everything I ever hoped to be as a teacher was written down in a book, and here was this advice right in front of me to help me reach my goals. Rafe writes about how to make his students feel safe and trusted in the classroom environment and he really strives to make sure that his students enjoy learning.  

To understand what got me to this point, we have to start from the beginning.  When I was 6 years old my mom was offered a job as an assistant teacher at a preschool.  She had this job until I was a sophomore in high school. Throughout that time, I spent every book fair night, every sick day, every day off school, and every summer in that preschool.  I practically grew up there alongside the kids. I knew from a very young age that I wanted to continue working with kids for the rest of my life. I may have been too young to remember much about the teaching styles that were used at this preschool, but it is an important part of my story because it led me to the path I’m on today.

 The most memorable and inspiring teacher that I’ve had to this day was my first grade teacher, Mrs. Miller.  She taught us that everyone is different and that’s okay. She was the most accepting and happiest person that I’ve ever met.  She had our classmate’s deaf mother come in and teach us some beginner sign language. We asked the mother questions and it was a very honest and safe environment.  To this day I still remember the sign language alphabet because of that lesson. Mrs. Miller taught us life skills too. There was a garden across the street from our school and she used it to teach us how to grow vegetables.  She invited our parents to join us in growing and harvesting these vegetables. I realize now as I’m recalling all these memories, that this is the most open and diverse classroom environment that I have ever had. She made everyone feel loved, cared for, and like they were part of a community.  She is all I aspire to be. Now that I know how difficult it can be for teachers to reach this level, it is shocking to me that she did it with such ease.   

There are many values that I want to instill in my future students.  The most important thing to me is that my students feel safe in the classroom.  I want them to know that I accept them and that they can feel free to be themselves.  I also want my students’ families to be involved in the classroom. I want my kids to be exposed to many different cultures.  I also want them to know that they can trust me and that they can tell me anything. I just want them to feel safe and loved.   

The research article that I chose is called “Giving Beyond Care: An Exploration of Love in the Classroom” by Kevin Cloninger.  I chose this article because I believe that students will not care about or want to do well in school if they do not feel cared for and appreciated by their teachers.  It is our job to realize that students are real people who have feelings. They want to feel safe and accepted as much as the next person. I’m going to leave you with this, “The obvious and recurrent criticism regarding the role of empathy in the classroom is that such ideas are “touchy feely,” “soft,” or “overly sensitive.”  Indeed the criticism is not only misguided but naive, for it is precisely such an approach that is missing from so many learning environments across the country.”

Cloninger, K. (2008). Giving Beyond Care: An Exploration of Love in the Classroom. Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue, 10.

Esquith, R. (2007). Teach like your hairs on fire the methods and madness inside room 56. New York: Viking.