Metaphors of Hope

imi Brodsky Chenfeld, Author of the article, "Metaphors of Hope" shows examples of four gifted teachers that

gives inspiration to teaching. Not allowing heself to be saddened by the negativity of education through the press she

travels around the country and meets teachers that are positively inspiring in the education proffession. This article is

about four of those inspirational teachers andtheir success stories. "Metaphors of Hope" not only is a positive article

for educators but also gives them a drive to strive for helping students in all aspects.

I thought it was quite intriguing the metaphor between education and Devastation Trail. In the article Ms. Chenfeld

speaks of a trail in Hawaii that has been destroyed by volcanoes. While one the trail she see some tiny flowers "one could

easily miss the tiny flowers remarkably pushing through the charred earth. The markers that identify these flowers read:

Thimbleberry, Swordfern, Creeping Dayflower, and Nutgrass. While others aimed their cameras at the stark, mysterious lava hills,

I focused on the flowers. In the midst of such a desolate scene, these perky "signs of life" seemed to be symbols of courage and

persistence." In my opinion it seems that most of the world tends to actually focus on the negative and not see the positive in

everyday life. Through all the bad media about school bullying, attendance, gangs, and plain negative thoughts, it is imperative to see

that there is still some positive possibilities for our future generations. As educators we strive to instill the good in our students,

they are not the barren land, they are the "Thimbleberries, the Swordferns, the Creeping Dayflowers, and the Nutgrass" and with our help

they will eventually bloom into beautiful strong flowers.

Teacher Tom Tenerovich, also known as Mr. T, had taught kindergarten for years, he was moved to teach second grade where the

students were more argumenative, vocal, and opionated. He decided to have Town Meetings with students paticipating allowing good listening,

problem solving, and voices to be heard. Each student would fill the position of Mayor and assistant Mayor with the students for a week at

a time with all the kids participating. The students talked about events in the classroom and all the kids felt important and strengthened

the bond between students and teacher. I totally agree with Mr. T in the Town Meeting program, it allows students to be heard, feel important,

and be a leader. This teaches respect, discipline, and patience and will absolutely benefit any class room.

The second teacher is Cathy Arment who teaches kindergarten. Her classrooms usually consist of many different ethnic backgrounds

and some unfortnuate living situations for her students. Her theory is to allow communication and respect, "We verbalize feelings--good and bad.

We're not afraid to share. From our first moment together,we talked about respecting everyone." She shares her feelings with them and allows the

students to share their feelings and they all listen to each other. I agree with Ms. Arment that trust, care, compassion, respect is an absolute

must in each classroom. Not only does Ms. Arment teach and enforce this, she lives her daily life practicing these traits. She teaches what she

believes. Like Cathy, I too try to live what I teach, knowing that in every classroom there will be individuals that need a safe haven to come to,

I want to be able to provide this for my students. What a great gift this teacher has given he students.

The third teacher, Dee Gibson sends welcome to the family cards to each student before school starts. Her motto is that the classroom

becomes the students second family. "These fortunate firstgraders know-- from everything said and done, from words and actions,activities and discussions,

planning and projects-- that their class is a second family in which each and every family member is important and connected to everyone else. This

is not a theme or a curriculum item or a subject area -- it's the way it is in Ms. Gibson's class. Because she is passionate, articulate, and committed

to creating, with her children andfamilies, a safe, encouraging, caring community that really is a second family." I also agree with Ms. Gibson,

getting involved in the lives of students is almost a must to be an effective teacher that really cares about each individual student. "The language in

this class is the language of respect, acceptance, courtesy, responsibility, and cooperation. It's not limited to a week's celebration of a theme!

It's the vocabulary of a close-knit family. That's an everyday reality." Ms. Gibson's students are very lucky to have such a caring teacher.

The fourth teachers are Anne Price and Claudette Cole. These ladies are "Partners in Educating All Children Equally (PEACE)." I too

agree with Price and Cole that feeling respected, needed, and appreciated is one of the first guidlines to being a good quality caring teacher.

A teacher needs to know that she can depend on her administration for support and help. "Anne Price and Claudette Cole travel to schools,

programs, and conferences, spreading very simple messages -- especially to administrators who too often don't attend workshops that