Today was a day where I realized that being a teacher first and foremost is teaching students how to be caring individuals and that takes no edtech at all, only some patience and love.
Sometimes we say things we don’t mean, we don’t let other kids play with us at recess, and while to adults it might not seem a big deal—to a 10 year old it feels like an ominous dark cloud will never lift from above her.
That sad face that Eeyore wears, is one I was greeted with after lunch by a few of my students. Gathering all my strength and patience, I readied myself for a battle of tears and girl drama. We had a girl pow-wow in the hall.
After a bit, out spilled the tears and out spilled the sadness and the guilt. Surfaced the bullying on gchat, the exclusion at recess, and the hiccups from so many tears. It seems that even the sweetest girls are capable of exclusion without even realizing what they are doing.
I shared my own stories from 5th grade when I bullied another girl without even knowing why I was doing it. Then I shared how in middle school I was bullied and even though back then I didn’t call it that, I knew exactly how my students felt on both sides of the coin.
It never feels good to have someone exclude you and it feels even worse to realize you did the excluding.
An even bigger issue for me was realizing that the tears these girls are shedding don’t stay behind on the soccer field during recess in 5th grade, but follow us throughout our adult life. Even as an adult, I know the struggle to be accepted by others and the sadness that you feel like an outsider. We sometimes forget that even in grade 5 we feel the same emotions we feel as adults when we don’t get invited to a party or think people don’t think we are cool enough.
The bullying that happens when we are 10 and when we are 30 can take on so many avenues via technology (gchat, texting, email, facebook etc. )
Today I saw the necessity of teaching digital citizenship. We must make sure students know how to operate as digital citizens so cyberbullying and real life bullying can subside.
Commonsense media is an excellent resource for parents and teachers in teaching how to be a digital citizen. With lessons and parent advice it has a wealth of information.
And while I don’t have my own kids, I do have 16 from 8 am to 3 pm. I want these kids to understand the hurt that happens on line and to realize the need to say sorry and to forgive through tears and guilt.
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