Three letters from Teddy

Although few will admit, there are students within your class that you like better than others for reasons you cannot exactly say why. Just as there are those students you like more than the rest of the class, there are also those students you like less. These likes and dislikes are usually felt for no apparent reasons nor do they follow a specific event, the feeling just exists and can be a factor in ones teaching behavior and mannerisms. Even as a student teacher I can see/feel this favoritism happening, as unprofessional as it is, and I am only with the students two days a week. It is very similar to being a camp counselor as each counselor has those campers he/she favors and those that are just on their bad side. The difference between having students you like and dislike as a teacher and having campers you like and dislike as a counselor is that a camp counselor, unlike the teacher, is responsible for little to none of a child’s educational learning or academic growth and favorites do little to affect a child’s educational progress.
Of course it is great to teach students you particularly enjoy interacting with and giving them attention and praise, but what about those students you particularly dislike interacting with? All students deserve and are entitled to the amount of attention they require to succeed. Not all students need the same amount of attention as some are much more independent, others need a quick five additional minutes of helps, while others are dependent upon one on one teaching. Giving the students the attention they deserve, require, and/or request is not a problem until one of the students you dislike is the one who requires the additional one on one teaching. Then it becomes a chore and you deprive your student of the valuable help you have the potential to give and leave him without the care and concern that as a student he is deserved.
In reading the story Three Letters from Teddy, I realized just how important it is to give each and every student the attention, help, and support they deserve. This teacher disliked her student Teddy for no apparent reason, however once she realized she was depriving him of care, her attitude towards him changed immediately. This young boy succeeded under the care, attention, and support he received from this teacher in the last half of the school year, and 15 years later he still has not forgotten her concern and care for him and his learning. Although I never thought I would be one to deprive a student of help, I can relate to and understand what it feels like to have a student/camper that I just dislike and I realize how easy it can be to just let that feeling prevail. After reading this story I will make every effort to give all students the attention and help they deserve as all students need, each and every year, a loving, caring, and concerned teacher. As Professor Johnson said, “Be on the lookout for Teddys, they’re out there,” a statement that all teachers, new and old, need to be reminded so as no student ever has to experience the lack of attention and care that Teddy had to for the first months of fifth grade.