About the Book
A Taste of Chicken Soup for the Teacher’s Soul is a book by teachers for teachers. It is a collection of stories told by teachers, former students of teachers, children of teachers, and even principals about the rewards of having a career in education. This collection of stories put together by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen is meant to tell teachers that their contributions to children are the some of the most important contributions they can make. It inspires teachers to continue with this stressful profession. A lot of these stories tell the teachers that even though their jobs may be tough, the rewards are worth the struggle. It also shows that a teacher’s impact lasts forever.
Impact
I got this book as a gift from my cooperating teacher when my student teaching ended, and it is the best gift anyone could have given me. I always loved the profession I chose, even in the worst of times during my student and substitute teaching, but there were definitely times when I wondered if the profession betrayed me. There are times when I want to get my mind away from the profession. However, this book serves as a good reminder for teachers of why they chose a career in teaching in the first place. While reading this book, I learned that those positive experiences in teaching are worth so much more than those negative experiences.
For example, teacher Kris Hamm Ross tells the story “Promises to Keep” about her students not being able to understand grammar and how frustrated she was about the profession. Then, she talked about a student in the school who went missing and how all of her 5th grade students came together to make cards for the family of the missing student. She talked about how these days on which students can come together and turn a struggle into a positive experience are worth all the bad days teaching has to offer. She states that “no grammar book, no lesson, could ever teach the beauty of the thoughts drawn and expressed by these children” (Ross 2006). In other words, no lesson could ever teach these students the importance of compassion and understanding of real-world issues. Sure, students will need grammar to learn how to read and write for the rest of their lives, but it is also important that they learn the importance of showing compassion for others so that they can have the skills and values to succeed in the real world. Ross learned that in teaching, the good outweighs the bad, and that’s what I have to remember as a teacher.
“Instead, she was twirling around, having fun. I felt humbled by her inner strength and honored to witness her joy in just being alive. I reached out and embraced her. ‘Yes Sarah, you are beautiful’.” (Campanelli 2006)
Another story that really stood out to me while I was reading this book was “Sarah” by Michele Wallace Campanelli. The titled character was a preschool student in Campanelli’s class who was abused by her father. One day, Sarah’s father poured hot water on head, and she had no hair, and her body was covered with burns. Naturally, Campanelli was concerned about how Sarah’s classmates would react to her appearance. However, Campanelli introduced Sarah as she would anyone else who joined the class. She noticed that all the children played with her as they would any other child. Sarah stayed only for half the day, and Campanelli asked the rest of the class what they thought of Sarah. They all responded with how they played with her and did not talk about her appearance. From seeing Sarah play with her classmates, Campanelli learned that these young children do not see appearance; rather, they see someone else to play with who is a part of the class. The best part of this story is the ending in which Campanelli sees Sarah twirling in her “princess clothes” in front of a mirror admiring how beautiful she looks. She hugs Sarah confirming that she is beautiful. You have to read this one yourself because it is truly a tear-jerker. It just amazed me how this girl clearly did not have a normal appearance, yet her classmates and teacher saw past that and just saw another classmate. The children did not care how she looked; they were just happy to have someone else with whom they can play. This story speaks volumes about how all individual difference should be welcome in the classroom because it is a place in which students can feel safe from all the troubles in the world.
The last story I want to talk about is “One of My Early Teaching Jobs” by Angela K. Nelson. In this story, Nelson talks about one of her first teaching jobs in which she worked at an alternative high school in an urban setting with the majority of students being African American. Nelson is from an affluent, suburban setting. She tells the story about how she learned so much from being in a setting so different from her upbringing. At first, Nelson talks about how overwhelming it was to work in an alternative high school and how the students would take advantage of her as a teacher who is new to the school. One of the students reassured her that they were joking. From then on, she talks about the lessons she learned and the experiences she had at the alternative high school. Then, the reader learns that the school is about to close. As the school year ends and the school is about to close, Nelson writes all the students notes about how they contributed to her life. She had one student come up to her and ask her if she meant what she wrote in her note. She told him that she did, and he hugged her telling her that “no one ever told me I was good before” (Nelson 2006). This story hit home for me because I grew up in a similar environment, and I knew people who were told they would get nowhere in life because they were “bad kids.” I have never been to an alternative high school, but I have met students who would later be transferred to an alternative high school. I have met people who sound similar to the students in the story who stayed at my high school. For the people I knew who were transferred to the alternative high school from my high school, I wonder if they had a teacher like Angela Nelson who believed in them and helped them succeed in life. The town I live in could definitely use teachers like that. I know I definitely had teachers like that in my high school who wanted to help these students and make a difference in their lives. I always got good grades and stayed out of trouble, so I never really got to know the students who lived the dangerous “street life” in urban settings. I knew who they were though, and I wonder if the wonderful teachers at my high school could help those students. When I read this story, I thought a lot about my hometown, and I thought it was good to read the story of inner-city life from the perspective of the teachers who teach in that environment as well as the students. It gave me a look into the perspective of some of my old classmates.
Values
Since this is a compilation of so many stories, I will only examine the values of the stories I have mentioned above in the Impact section. I chose to talk about these three stories because they are my favorite and the stories out of which I got the most value.
“No grammar book, no lesson, could ever teach the beauty of the thoughts drawn and expressed by these children.” (Ross 2006)
The first story, “Promises to Keep” teaches teachers that although there are days we want to go home and cry because the students do not understand what we are teaching, there are days in which working with children is totally worth it. Children come to school to learn math, reading, writing, grammar, science, and social studies. Teachers come to school to help students grow in their understanding of those areas. When students struggle with these subjects, we wonder what we are doing wrong. What is wrong with the way we are teaching? While student teaching, I experienced these feelings of doubt all the time. I still experience these feelings even as a substitute teacher. I wonder why I even decided to go into this profession in the first place. While we may experience these feelings of self-doubt, there is plenty of reason to be optimistic about our profession. Seeing students practice these values of kindness and empathy is one of the reasons to be optimistic about the profession. While we are supposed to teach real-world skills to students, we are also responsible for teaching them social values. We may not always be successful in teaching students these real-world skills, but it is good to see that we are successful in teaching them these values. With that said, it is good to know that we created a community of compassionate learners. It might be hard for students to process the material we teach, but we are reaching them with the values we teach. Even when we look at the example of Ross’ students making cards, the students can use some of that content they learned about grammar and writing to make cards for the family of the missing student. The students are combining these skills we are teaching with those social values we teach them, which is what makes school a beautiful place.
The second story, “Sarah” teaches teachers that school is a place that is almost like a second home to students. Therefore, teachers must treat students like they are part of the family regardless of their individual differences. If the teacher shows them that each student is a part of the family, students will treat their peers as such. Campanelli did not draw any attention to Sarah’s appearance, so the students learned to see past her appearance. This story also shows how students will feel the type of classroom climate their teacher creates. In other words, students feel and absorb the energy from a teacher’s classroom. When Sarah twirled in front of the mirror saying how beautiful she was, it was because her teacher and classmates made her feel beautiful in spite of her struggle and appearance. Her struggles with abuse and appearance did not even matter while she was in the classroom. This story really teaches it’s reader the importance of creating a welcoming classroom for children who may not have a welcoming home. The classroom should be a place where all individual differences are welcome and every child feels safe.
“Do you really mean this?” one [student] asked.
“Of course. Every word.”
“Wow.” (Nelson 2006)
The last story, “One of My Early Teaching Jobs” shows teachers that it is not just us teaching our students. Our students teach us too. Our students teach us about their lives and what makes young people make some of the decisions they make. For example, Nelson says that she learned why students join gangs and what makes them so deviant while working in the alternative high school. In other words, this story allows us to see the factors affecting a child’s education through our students’ eyes. It is the students we are teaching; therefore, we must learn to teach the whole student by understanding them. This story really allows teachers to practice empathy. This story also shows how important it is for a teacher to tell students how they touch his or her life. When Nelson writes a note to one of her students and tells her that no one ever told him he was good, he realizes that he has the potential to succeed. Students need to be made aware of their good qualities so they know the potential they have to succeed in the real world. When students know they have the potential, they will use that potential to help them succeed.
Significance to My Students
The first story, “Promises to Keep” teaches teachers that although we may have bad days in which we feel our students did not understand the material, the good outweighs the bad when it comes to teaching. With this said, we should teach students to feel the same way about learning. Although there might be days on which the student does not understand what is being taught, there will also be days in which the student learns a lot; accomplishes a goal; or learns to be a better citizen in society. Like we have good and bad days as teachers, they have good and bad days as students too. Like us, they should realize that the days they accomplish something outweighs the days they just “don’t get it.” Another way to think about the values “Promises to Keep” teaches is that their strengths outweigh their weaknesses. In other words, they can use their strengths to help overcome their weaknesses. As I said before, I’m sure students were using grammar to help them make those cards. Their empathy might have helped them learn a little bit of grammar as they were making those cards for the parents of the child who went missing.
The second story, “Sarah” teaches both teachers and students that school should be like a second home for students. Students should know that their individual differences will be accepted in the classroom, and they should accept their peers’ individual differences as well. If we can model for students what it means to look past someone’s individual differences, students will learn to do the same. Students will not see appearance if we teach them to look past it. The story is also significant to our students because it teaches us to create the classroom environment we want our students to feel. When we create that welcoming environment for our students, they will learn to be warm and welcoming to their peers as well. It is important for us to create a positive classroom climate so our students can feel and absorb the energy of a positive classroom climate
The last story, “One of My Early Teaching Jobs” shows teachers that it is important that we learn from our students and learn to see things through their perspective. Likewise, this story is so significant to our students because it shows students that we are listening to them and we care about them. At the end of the day, our goal is to teach them according to the way they learn best. The best way is to see things through their perspective. As I said, it is also important for students to know they are making a difference in your life like you hope to be in theirs. I really liked how Nelson gave her students the notes to let them know what was so special about them that made an impact on her. I think that is a good idea for the end of the year, so the students know what is so special about them. When students realize how they made a difference on their teacher and what makes them special, they will use that to keep succeeding so they never give up on their dream. They need to know that someone believes in them even when they have their doubters. When a teacher believes in his or her students, they believe in themselves. Teachers must learn about their students by seeing things through their perspective so that they can learn about why they will be successful scholars now and in the future.
This page was a blog post on my Teaching Portfolio Website. Make sure you check it out on https://wordpress.com/post/stephaniedivitoteachingportfolio.wordpress.com/362!
The Stephanie DiVito Story 