Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/telling-our-stories-a-key-to-effective-teaching/5016282/
Maria stood up looking slowly around the classroom. “When my baby was 3 months old, I had to go to work. We did not have enough money for me to stay home.” Tears filled her eyes, “I remember dropping my baby off early in the morning, not knowing if they would know his cries or what made him laugh or how he looked into my eyes when I picked him up. For weeks, I cried all the way to work.” Everyone was silently listening. “When I came to get him, I had to see every part of his body. ‘Did they hurt him; leave him too long in his diaper?’ I wanted to find something the teachers did wrong. I was his Mommy, not them.” The sadness on Maria’s face told more than her words could express.In the safety of our class, we could hear the trauma of an infant’s mother as she said “good-bye.” We could understand how she wanted to find fault with the teacher who took over her baby’s care. We also understood how it felt to be that teacher facing a critical parent after caring for her baby all day. Most important, we were ...