Repellent or Magnet??

I walked into a classroom today and something on the teacher's desk caught my eye. It was a can of aerosol "something" that was covered in paper with a handmade label titled: Student Repellent. It even had the skull and crossbones on it.

There may be a story behind it that everyone in the classroom knows. And there may not be.

I don't like it. I think it is inappropriate. For the record, I feel the same way about the pottery jars you can buy that say "Ashes of Naughty Children".

Student repellent? Is that the message we really want to send to kids? Especially kids who are surrounded by adults that may or may not care about them.

As I reflected on the mental images this can stirred up within me, I thought: "I don't want ANY child to think that I want student repellent...instead I want to be a student magnet."

And I want my own children surrounded by people who are student magnets.

My mind drifted to an experience I observed last night. I attended the Mr. R. High School which is a "pageant atmosphere" for senior guys at DS 2's school. He was one of the 11 contestants. Mr. M., who is the senior class sponsor, and DS 2's reason for wanting to go into education, was there. Throughout the night, he was running around making sure everything was running smoothly for this "show". He also participated in the talent portion with two of the guys.

The first guy was displaying talent that was "up Mr. M's alley." He was doing Science magic tricks of sorts. Mr. M was the assistant for the demonstration. Since he's a Science teacher, I suspect it wasn't any sacrifice to stand up there and play with the chemicals and stuff. The second guy, though, he was doing a mock wrestling match. Mr. M was the opponent. It was funny and, I suspect, NOT up Mr. M's alley. But he obviously went all out for this student.

Later in the interview with the finalist, one student gave this teacher and his classroom kudos. Some kids simply wouldn't do that. And even the ones who would credit teachers and classes, have teachers they would NEVER mention.

Mr. M is a student magnet. I think he genuinely likes kids. I, for one, am glad.

Are there some students with whom it's hard to connect? Sure. Still, in every circumstance I think educators have a choice: Repellent or Magnet?

I choose magnet.


{For the record, DS 2 did NOT win the title...but he's still "Mr. R High School" to us and he made us proud!}