Teaching Hope: Empowerment

This chapter read differently than the others--it seems like the authors were able to summarize many of the lessons of the previous chapters with their concerns about their students graduating. I wonder if all 150 teachers had to write 6 testimonies, and then the best from those categories were chosen?

Since I will be teaching at-risk students next semester, I found this section pretty interesting. Though I can assume that most of theses students in the book are at-risk, I don't think I saw it mentioned quite as much as I did in this chapter. These teachers really seem to lay it all on the line. I wonder how much of their all-or-none attitude is present during the scope of an entire year, or if it only seems dramatic because of the tone of the testimonies. If teaching classes lik this is so ridiculously demanding, I think to myself, how can I ever have what it takes to do it myself?

I bet if you come at it with an impossibly optimistic attitude, everything seems to weigh in the balance a lot more (I'm looking at you, entry 149) I don't yet have it in me to believe that every single student I ever teach is going to turn their lives around. Sure, if I am a good teacher they might have the ability to make a change, but if I start worrying that I can't affect their lives 100%, I feel as though I'll be setting myself up for failure.

This whole book really taught me a lot about what the at-risk students in this country are going through, but I think that it was most effective as a helpful collection of examples and counter-examples for the kind of teacher I want to be. I kept this in mind when I read every entry, and I found that I was assessing the teachers and their actions more than the students. Because really, though there were some truly unique students in the testimonies, the majority of them are all the same--or they are at least all in the same boat motivationally and academically. It is the role that the teacher takes on that requires close examination, and I feel that this is where the book is most helpful.