"Born This Way"


Imagine being a student teacher teaching a lesson about fractions. Now imagine that one of your students interrupts the lesson to ask you, "Were you born this way?" This is exactly what happened to me and boy was I shocked!

I could have broken out into the Lady Gaga song ," Born This Way" to answer her question but instead I asked her, "What do you mean?" I wanted to clarify the question she was asking me and I also wanted her to try to form her question in a more appropriate and specific manner.

I then answered her question by saying "Yes, I was born with my disability." I really needed to go home and reflect before I could explain my situation to the students. Honestly, I was very upset by her question because it showed me that my students do see me as different from their other teachers.

The next day I explained more about my disability to all of the students in my various resource room groups. It was important for me to be upfront and honest and I wanted the students to learn that it is okay to be open and educate other people about their own disabilities.

At times during student teaching the students asked me why I write or talk differently. I had difficulty responding to this question in the beginning but by the end of student teaching I had a perfectly formulated answer. I said, "Everybody has things they need to work on and improve and these are things I am working on.  If you can't read my handwriting please tell me and I will be glad to write it again for you."  By framing my answer in this manner I feel that I was teaching the students that it is okay to admit to yourself and to other people that there are certain things that you struggle with and need to work on.

Recently a student asked me similar questions on the first day of tutoring. This time I wasn't surprised and she framed the question in a very appropriate manner.  Before she asked me the question she said she was not trying to be rude by asking me. I replied that she wasn't being rude and that it is okay to be curious.

I believe that we need to teach our kids that curbing our curiosity through appropriate questioning is a powerful skill to possess and a wonderful and effective way to learn.






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