Teacher/Mentor/Friend/Therapist…

by Laura Brady

I think teachers do not get enough credit. I know, what student teacher/teacher wouldn’t say that? But in all seriousness, teachers have a lot more responsibility than many other professions. Teachers are supposed to be guides, mentors, friends, experts at subject areas, and even psychologists at times. This occurred to me the other day after we had taught one of our lessons. During the lesson, one of our students who usually participates a lot in class and is very outgoing, was sitting quietly and withdrawn at his desk. Even after going over and trying to help him with the assignments, he just sat there with a blank look on his face. When I tried to ask him what was wrong, he wouldn’t answer but looked like he was about to cry. Our cooperating teacher told us that he sometimes gets like that and to leave him alone for the time being and she would talk to him after the lesson was over – otherwise he would break down. After the lesson, she pulled the student aside and talked to him. The student was having very difficult issues at home and started to cry uncontrollably once the teacher started talking to him. She gave him a box of tissues, sat next to him and tried to soothe him as she gently prodded him to answer her questions to figure out what was wrong. After talking with him for about twenty or thirty minutes the student became a little calmer and the teacher called his home to try and work things out for him. While she may not have been able to solve his problems, she was able to calm him down and he returned to class after gym in his normal outgoing mood. The student once again felt safe and happy in the classroom and was able to put his full attention on the lessons he was to learn. It surprised me a lot that day to see our cooperating teacher deal with these issues with the student. She is a great teacher and mentor and I’m glad that I was able to learn from her the kind of teacher I want to be. I think I expected her to ignore the issue or send the student to the guidance office or nurse’s office to figure things out. Instead, she knew that the student respected her and trusted her and she took the initiative to do what she could to help the student. She had his best interest at heart and was able to help him move past his issues at least for the time being. Many people do not realize that teachers deal with more than just getting students to learn basic math facts or writing techniques. In order for students to learn, they have to have their basic needs met and need to feel safe and secure in the classroom. Teachers need to provide the students with safety, security, and trust in order to be effective teachers and that adds one more thing that we as student teachers need to remember when we prepare ourselves for student teaching again next year.