After the last class discussion, I was reminded of an experience I had during my student teaching. These two teachers had a total of 41 years experience between them.

One day they were giving me "advice" and the oldest teacher said,"You will find in your teaching that you will have a tendancy to want to interact more with the children who are clean, and dressed nicely. The children with dirty fingernails, dirty clothes, etc.. will not get your attention as much." Now, that wasn't the exact quote, but it prettly closely reflected what she said to me.

She planted that seed in my head, but it made me more "gung-ho" to prove them wrong.

Now that I have been teaching for some time now, I still remember her comment when I see that dirty little child enter my room. I still try to make it a point to prove them wrong.

In her world, she didn't like dirty children and she thought that was the norm for all teachers. She even dispensed it as "Fact." It just goes to show that when we have student teachers in our rooms, we must be careful that we don't let our "worlds" collide with that relationship. Yeah, as teachers we love to give advice, but we better be careful what kind of advice we share.

We can't let our opinions gget in the way of factual information.

Janie, I would probably do the same thing you're doing to prove them wrong. I always strive to treat my students the same regardless of the way they look or dress. What they look like should not affect how and what we teach them.

A coworker's relative will be observing my class tomorrow, because she may want to teach 4th grade. I can certainly tell her the good, the bad, and the ugly about the 4th grade, but I hope I leave her with a positive impression. One of my students recently told me that I have inspired her to become a teacher when she grows up. Another teacher told her not to if she wants to make any money. True, we won't become millionaires, but I'm happy with my chosen profession, and I hope I don't keep others from going in that direction themselves.