Chapter #1: Knowing Students Well

The section of Chapter 1 that made the biggest impression on me was the section where students were discussing getting to know them on a more personal level. Rather than just a name and a face behind a desk, but rather what other interests they have outside of class that makes them a more dynamic person. There are many layers to students and because they spend more time outside of the classroom than in, that has more of a deciding factor on who they are.
This portion of the chapter struck a chord with me because when I was in high school and while in school in the U.S. Army, there was little concern with the who and what you are as a person. The focus was completely on results, moving you from one class to the next, and on to become a headache to someone else. As the thought of becoming an educator comes closer to a reality, the desire to make a difference becomes that much more important. To avoid being one of those teachers that we all disliked we have to find a new way of doing things differently and the best way to do this is by listening to the voices from the book. We need to keep in mind that just because we have attended classes and graduated from college, we do not have all the answers. In order to become successful teachers, we need to be able to reach our students and have them receive the information that we are giving to them. The only way to do this is to become more in tune with who they are the other eighteen hours of the day.