Care

              In “Nice is not Enough. Defining Caring for Students of Color”, Sonia Nieto attempts to describe what real “care” should look like in a classroom composed of students of color. She mentions Rosalie Rolòn-Do’s perspective which calls for a “response to students’ actual personal ives and to the institutional barriers they encounter as members of racialized groups. Teachers must understand individual students within their concrete sociopolitical contexts and devise specific pedagogical and curricular strategies to help them navigate those contexts successfully.” I agree whole heartedly with what she is saying but it also fills me with anxiety because I wish I could spend a whole day and school year getting to know my class. Some students are only with me for a semester and making time to get to know them can easily be misconstrued as targeting them.  However, my best friend in this endeavor continues to be my beginning of year/semester interest inventory. By combing through them from time to time, especially when I am worried about a particular student, I find ways to broach topics 

that would otherwise not come up.

            In “Mapping Interconnected Care”, I loved the idea of describing the ebb and flow of what we do as teachers using our bodies. One teacher portrayed her classroom as an extension of her life at home and another described her snack factory, dedicated to creating a safe environment for her students. I think about this a lot. I want students to feel like an effort was made in providing them with a space for them to learn. Is this the space I would want my own children learning in? Would I want my son sitting in a classroom distracted by the rumbling of his tummy? Ultimately, teaching is a full body endeavor. Some days I feel like a blood hound, listening in on conversations that might give me a slither of an idea as to why another student showed up looking upset or not at all. Trying to sense the moods and dispositions of my students before trying to teach to them. It can be an emotional rollercoaster and I keep doing it because I care. Someone should care. I wish I could inspire others to care.