Yep...Got That!
Have you ever heard the radio commercial for the store that claims to have every possible battery? I'm not even sure of the name of the company, but I do recall the commercial was catchy. In the commercial a customer enters the store and starts asking for several obscure types of batteries. The salesperson replies in every instance, "Yep..got that!" It's a cute concept that one store could have every possible battery.
In my home I have a box of batteries. We keep the regulars on-hand. You might have a box or drawer in your home that includes a few AA, AAA, D, C, or 9 volt batteries. I also know that there are some sizes of batteries that exist that I don't have. I'm even wise enough about batteries that I don't know all of the types of batteries that possibly exist. But, batteries are important.
As a building principal I get to talk with many parents and families about their student. I've learned from my experience that it's sometimes hard for parents to understand that not every child in a school is like their child. Or it's difficult to understand that not every family is like their family. One simple example is it's hard sometimes for parents to understand that their child responds differently to eating in our school cafeteria with 100 peers than at his/her home kitchen table with their family of 4 or 5.
I'm not saying this to be critical of parents. Rather, it's hard to visualize all of the differences in a school until you have the opportunity to experience multiple perspectives with students and their families. When I think about the "Yep...Got That!" campaign, I think about my school.
Do you "need" a student:
In my home I have a box of batteries. We keep the regulars on-hand. You might have a box or drawer in your home that includes a few AA, AAA, D, C, or 9 volt batteries. I also know that there are some sizes of batteries that exist that I don't have. I'm even wise enough about batteries that I don't know all of the types of batteries that possibly exist. But, batteries are important.
As a building principal I get to talk with many parents and families about their student. I've learned from my experience that it's sometimes hard for parents to understand that not every child in a school is like their child. Or it's difficult to understand that not every family is like their family. One simple example is it's hard sometimes for parents to understand that their child responds differently to eating in our school cafeteria with 100 peers than at his/her home kitchen table with their family of 4 or 5.
I'm not saying this to be critical of parents. Rather, it's hard to visualize all of the differences in a school until you have the opportunity to experience multiple perspectives with students and their families. When I think about the "Yep...Got That!" campaign, I think about my school.
Do you "need" a student:
- who completes all of his or her homework without being told to do it? Yep...got that.
- who would rather read a book than play video games? Yep...got that.
- who is always super-polite and smiles each day? Yep...got that.
In fact, we have many students who fit this list.
We do, however, have students with other lists. While I'm not sharing any specific students here, in my role I have seen quite a bit.
Do you "need" a student:
- who doesn't sleep at night because he/she is awakened by his/her parents fighting? Yep...got that.
- who just buried buried his/her parent because that parent took his/her own life? Yep...got that.
- who doesn't get enough food to eat at home? Yep...got that.
Two links have recently come to me about perspectives that many families don't usually consider. One is about the way a person with autism sees the world and the other is about a struggling student's impact on a classroom.
And yet, I see great hope.
- Our teachers build learning communities in their classrooms where all students are valued and respected.
- Our students reach out to help each other. They listen, laugh, and learn together.
- Parents regularly work with our school to help other students or say to me, "Mr. Ascher, we understand. You have 500 kids, and we have 2. We trust you and your school."
Empathy is a great gift that we can teach our young people. In my opinion to better understand what it is like to "walk in another person's shoes," or to understand struggles or challenges that some of us can only imagine helps make the world a better place.
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