At a teacher’s conference this image was displayed for all educators to ponder over and reflect on. The image was a pencil, a broken pencil, and two new pencils. When you look at it, what do you see? What does it mean to you as an educator?
Teaching is such an important job. A teacher has the responsibility of educating young minds, being a cheerleader when needed, being a counsellor when required, offering a hand of support when a student is feeling shattered, a nurse when something is broken, and taking on the role of police officer when classroom management is a MUST.
When I look at the image of the pencil, it makes me think of the kids I teach and my own kids. In life, we all start with a perfect pencil ready to be used to create or write something incredible. When obstacles or failures come our way and we feel broken, then what. What happens when the pencil breaks? What happens when life gets hard? Do you choose to complain about it, about the broken pencil? I think we get stuck there.
Kids feeling like they are not good enough, not pretty enough, the content they are learning is too hard, or a friend makes fun of the way they read, or the one test they studied for hours over the weekend and somehow they failed. Life can be hard for these kids. So what is the role of the teacher in these circumstances.
The teacher can pick up the student, like picking up the two pencils. The teacher can sharpen both pencils and show their student that it is going to be ok. The two pencils show that there is another way. When something is broken, there are always new ways to approach things.
I remember a colleague of mine gave up her lunch hour in September to sit with her students. She did this because kids were often left out and she believed that if she was present and encouraged conversation and modelled positive friendship behaviors to her students, that it would change the narrative. I have another teacher friend who offered tutoring after school to those kids who needed a bit of encouragement. It broke her heart that the kids who she worked with, often called themselves stupid. She learned later that they would hide in the bathroom when the content got too hard in class. By offering her tutoring sessions the kids had a safe place to fail, to do things wrong, to celebrate, to cry, to ask any questions, to be frustrated, BUT mostly to be encouraged and loved.
Could it be that the two new pencils mean new opportunities?
Resilience and having a positive mindset can be tricky. But if you can teach your students to find another way, imagine how their outlook on themselves and on their life can change. No more dwelling on the negatives but looking at the possibilities. Life will have its challenges but your students, now they can face it!
