A few weeks ago, I happened to meet my son's math teacher at a local cafe. We talked about teaching children. We agreed that subjects like math and reading are 1 important things that children learn in a classroom. Instead, those little children should be trained to be kind and brave, and become contributors to a larger community.
Every Friday afternoon she asks her students to take out a piece of paper and write down the names of four children whom they'd like to2 with the following week. She also asks the students to name one student who they believe has been abnormal that week. All ballots(选票) are privately handed to her.
After the students go home, she takes out those pieces of paper, places them in front of her and looks for patterns. Who is not getting welcomed by anyone else? Who doesn't even know who to make friends with? Who never gets noticed enough to be needed? Who had a million friends last week but 3 this week?
You see, she is not looking for a new seating chart or "abnormal students." She is looking for 4 children. She is looking for children who have difficulty in communicating with other children. And she is trying to find out who is being bullied and who is doing the bullying.
As a teacher, parent and lover of all children, I think that this is the greatest strategy that I have ever seen. It is like taking an X-ray of a classroom to see beneath the surface of things and into the5 of students.
"How long have you been doing this?" I asked." Ever since Columbine(科伦拜校园枪击案),"she said. This brilliant woman watched Columbine and knew that all violence begins with loneliness. And so she decided to start fighting violence early and often. What she is doing when she sits in her empty classroom6 those lists that were written with 11-year-old hands is saving lives. I am sure of it. She is saving lives!
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