What teachers are real people to?

I think "Accomplice" was a great incite into what many of today's teachers go through. Here you have a teacher with self-esteem issues and fear of being the best teacher she can. She wants to teach these children all she can, the best she can but she's afraid that that won't be enough or that she can't. She talks about how her father pushed her and everyone around her to be great but it took her along time to realize it. That's what I think she's trying to do to with the children. She gives them a book with swear words and adult themes I think to shock them and make the children want to learn more and read more. I mean think about all the books we read in grade school how boring and blah they were. They were all the same there was no shock there was no real drive to make you go "Mom can I stay up a little longer to finish this chapter?" I never asked that that's for sure. I imagine I would've though if I had been given a story like this.

Ms. Hempel also has her students write their own anecdote. I think here she is trying to boost the children's self-esteem so that they wouldn't be scared like she is. She wants the children to stick up for themselves and tell their parents what they feel about their work and themselves through their own words. A parent can argue with a teacher about their child but how do you argue with the child about himself? You can't you can only talk with them, help them be an "accomplice" to their lives.

I'm a parent and I am a child education major. I'm already a teacher of my own child but someday I will hopefully be teaching other children. I hope that when I get in front of my class and I have that fear I recall this story and find a way to teach the children in a way that causes shock and interest. How would you have dealt with your child coming home and hearing that they're reading a book with those swear words? Let me tell you before reading this I would've freaked but now I think I would just ask more questions to try and get an understanding of why my child was reading this. I realized that maybe some teachers are real people that have real ideas and aren't just scary people who hate me. Thanks MS. Hempel.

Thomas Moss (post 3)