The "One"

"When a middle or high school teacher gazes out over her classroom, she is looking at one in three girls who have been sexually mistreated and one in six or seven boys, depending on which statistic you accept. Approximately one in ten is gay; more are struggling with sexual identity. That is not to mention those engaged in family power struggles resulting in eating disorders, crippling anxiety or depression, and/or self-malnutrition. Truth is, every teacher is involved with as many troubled students as not. As if adolescence weren't trouble enough....

There simply is no tougher job that that of Teacher. When I was a full time therapist, I would sit in my office, listening to the stories of some ravaged adolescent, and think, 'This kid is in a school somewhere in this town. His teacher has no idea what his life is like, and the kid's not going to tell because he can't afford to." His behavior will often look exactly opposite of his true feelings. That teacher had to create a safe place for him AND must educate him. That teacher is flying blind. But still she cranks up the props each day and takes 'er up. THAT'S courage. THAT'S how you leave no child behind. THAT'S being a teacher."

~ Chris Crutcher (Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice)


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My thoughts:

Powerful and true. And sadly, I know that no matter what the age, there are kids who are in trouble....kids who the seed of pain has been planted...and without good teachers, to help stop it, it will grow. We may not be able to stop it....maybe just slow it down, teach them how to control it, survive it.

Kids spend 6-7 hours a day in our classrooms....for many, it is the best 6 or 7 hours they will have. For some kids, the four walls of our classrooms are the safest place they will be. Some teachers "kick out" the troublesome ones....not me....those are the ones who need to stay the most. It is our job to figure out a way to "give them a win". If they are not in our classroom, who will do it--"give them a win".

It is our job to find a way to make them want to stay....for some kids, they may leave and not come back....we need to own up to that....keep that in mind.....no one wants to feel discarded by everyone.

Be "the One" for the kids....you may be the only one, but it just takes one.....

One person can save a soul or break a soul at any moment...20,000 moments in a day.....just think how many souls you can touch in those moments....we need to make them good....or else, it could be too late tomorrow.

This isn't just for teachers....it is for all of us....those of us in kids lives. Parents of their friends, coaches, everyone......we all need to know, to watch, to care.