The Little Moments in Class Matter

June 28, 2017 | TeacherReady

During the busy school year, it can be easy to forget the impact we, as teachers, may have on each individual student. When the chaos subsides, it is important to reflect on our work and take notice of how we touch the lives of our students.

Kara McAlister, a TeacherReady® alumni, reflects on a specific experience she had teaching oversees in England:

“I teach an Intercultural Communication class to US undergrads on their semester abroad, and a recent class was frustrated by being stuck in the ‘American Bubble’ and not being able to establish relationships with local citizens. I took a few minutes out of my day’s plan to discuss how to meet people, and I led the discussion with the question, “How would you meet people if you were all of the sudden moved to the middle of Iowa?” It was a decent brainstorming session, and I didn’t think much about it afterwards. This discussion came up in one of my students’ final projects as being very meaningful and something that would stick with this student over the next few years.”

“It goes to show that the little moments in class matter, even if you never know how your students carry them in their hearts. I should also say that I only used Iowa as an example because most of my students are from the coasts, and moving to Iowa is about as exotic as spending a semester abroad.”