Favorites

            When I first started working the students all seemed the same to me. I didn’t see the class as individual kids but rather as a group; I would not differentiate between them. As time went on I noticed that I began to know the students individually. I began to predict who would be able to answer a certain question and who would not. I began to recognize which students were hesitant to give answers in front of the class and which ones were excited to be seen by their peers.

            As I grew to better know the children, I noticed that there were certain kids that I liked better than others. I realized that I had a few favorite kids in each class. This is not to say that I disliked the other kids; I simply did not like them as much as my favorites. I began to wonder if all teachers have favorites. I realized that they must all have students that are easier to teach than others, yet they treat them all the same.

            I decided that I had to treat all the children the same. I made a goal not to let the children discover that I have favorite students. I decided that this is the only fair way to teach. No student deserves to get less of an education because I don’t like them as much as others. This experience has helped me to have a greater respect for seasoned teachers that have no problem showing the same amount of care and interest in all of their students.