Response to Briana's article post

Thanks for sharing this with us Briana!

The article brings up a very interesting point. In school, we are often told to get to know our students, which would help us evaluate and determine how to educate them best individually. We have read and heard the phrase, "one size does not fit all" many times and this is certainly true. We all probably understand by now that every student is different, and therefore has different strengths and needs. However, as discussed in the article, there are situations when it might be better to simply focus on creating a positive learning environment, especially since "for some students, school is the place they go to escape." As a teacher, one of my main goals in the classroom is to make my students feel safe, so I would not want to be the one to "rub salt in the wounds and bring to the forefront all of the problems they face at home." But can we truly know our students without learning about their family backgrounds? Isn't it necessary to know what our students are going through in order to create a better and positive learning environment? And sure it is not in our job title to be social workers, but we are teachers! We are the social changers! And if being a social worker would make me a better teacher, then so be it.

-Roma