I’m not sure if there is much that easy about being a teacher, these days or when I was in a classroom in 1987! That year I was a fourth grade teacher in a Catholic school in Riverside. There were 32 kids in the class…crazy, right?! I got the job the day school started. My sister was working at the bank where the school’s principal appeared regularly to deposit tuition dollars. He mentioned that they were still looking for a teacher; she called me and the next thing I knew, I was Miss Wishart, the new fourth grade teacher.
Lots of kids, lots of needs…lots of papers to correct! When I played “school” as a kid or helped my teachers in elementary school to correct papers, I loved it. I couldn’t wait to be a teacher when I grew up. As it turns out the reality was a far cry from the fantasy–but perhaps that’s a story for another day.
One of the things I tried very hard to do was to create a classroom environment where all the kids felt safe, heard and supported. Whenever I would hear any bickering or potentially mean language among them, I used to say: You may not know what it is yet, but you all have something special about you. You don’t necessarily have to like each other but you do have to show common courtesy and respect for each other. So, how do you know as a teacher if your message is getting through?
On the day class pictures were being handed out it went something like this:
The chubby girl in class raises her hand and says, “I’d like to apologize to the class for ruining the class picture. I look just silly and ugly.”
I hear this and my heart is broken and I have no idea what to say.
Class clown raises his had to reply, and huge taking a risk I call on him, “You didn’t ruin the picture! Look how big your smile is and how colorful your sweater is!”
Wow! Not what I was expecting, but absolutely relieved; and we moved on to the rest of the day as if nothing amazing had just happened.
I’d like to thank that particular group of kids for teaching me that teaching’s not meant to be easy, but the rewards, well, they’ve lasted me a lifetime!
Related articles
- Fourth Grade Flags (4thwithmorgan.wordpress.com)
- Fourth Grade has the Flu (roomtogrow2013.wordpress.com)
- How To Deal With A Smart, Disruptive School Kid (nathanlustig.com)
365 Days of Thank You 
Wow, reading that made my morning. I was in that class Miss Wishart and I remember that day. I remember the girl you speak of but cannot remember the clown being there were so damn many of us lol. But what I do remember is what a great teacher you were and how you made me act and behave in school would help me as I moved on in life. You were the last teacher I had at St. Brendan’s for I transferred to a different school the next year. But I just wanted to say you did a great job with a bunch of animals and I hope you are still a teacher so more kids gain your values.
Sincerely
Brandon Capaldo
P.S could you have found a worse picture of me lol.
LikeLike
Thanks for being in touch, Brandon! The picture came right off of Sarah’s facebook. It was Jackie and Shaun that I wrote about, I’ll never forget it.
I am no longer a teacher in the traditional sense, yours was my last class. I appreciate your kinds words and happy to hear you are doing well all grown up!
Kelly
LikeLike
Nice post!
LikeLike
[…] A while back I wrote about my year teaching fourth grade. It was a long time ago, almost 26 years. I’ll always think of the kids from that class as 9 and 10 year olds. But of course if it’s been 26 years, so the kids are all grown up. Imagine my surprise last night when I was out to dinner at Sienna, with my sisters, mom and aunt, celebrating my aunt’s birthday, and I had a chance to see one of my former students. We took this selfie and then posted to Facebook. The cool thing about that was the other former students who also saw the posting. Thanks, Sarah!! […]
LikeLike
[…] Tales of a Fourth Grade Something […]
LikeLike