A repost from 2009:
Susan Gross has said about personalization:
… the BIG PICTURE is the relationships among those in the classroom. That’s what real teaching is all about. If the relationship is healthy, the kids will learn better. If the relationship is shaky, the learning is shaky. Only the teacher has the power to fix classroom relationships ….
There is a parallel here in Charles Dickens’ masterpiece, A Christmas Carol. Scrooge, after his awakening by the three ghosts of Christmas, ran into the street and had the following conversation with a passing boy:
Scrooge: Do you know the butcher shop in the next street?
Boy: I should hope so.
Scrooge: What a remarkable and intelligent boy! Do you know if they have sold the prize turkey that was hanging up in the window? Not the big one! The enormous one!
Boy: The one as big as me?
Scrooge: What a wonderful boy! So witty! It’s a pleasure to talk to him! Yes, that’s the one!
Boy: It’s still there!
Scrooge: It is? Go and buy it! Oh, what a lovely boy! I think I’m gonna like children!
The words indicate Scrooge’s changed perception about children. Of course, if we are teachers, we certainly are not scrooges, but do our students know that? Do our families know that? As Scrooge takes a real look at this child, he sees the child’s inherent value and wit. He sees the real person.
Maybe Susie Gross is right. Maybe the greatest thing about our work lies not in its awesome technique, but in the simple fact of it as a way to bring personalization into our classrooms and into our lives. If we can really see our students as Scrooge does above, maybe we can unlock the greatness of the method once and for all, and in doing so, unlock our own greatness as teachers and as human beings.