I am currently reading Push Has Come to Shove by Dr. Steve Perry. Early on in his book, he tells a story about a student he had while teaching in Strawberry Mansion High School in Philadelphia. This student during a discussion blurted out "How could these teachers teach us when they don't even like us?" Reading this really hit me.We must genuinely care for our students if we want them to reach their potential. Everyone knows the time at the end of the year, when you get your class roster for the following September. The first thing we all do is read the list, see who we know and find out about the students we don't know. This is a time when you can really tell how much a teacher cares about his/her students as well as the passion he/she has about the job. Since, I teach in a school for children with Autism, when a teacher is asked about another student, he/she will talk about any behavior issues the student has, but usually follows up with how to address it. However, what really tells which teachers are there for the right reasons, is when you ask him/her about a "difficult" child, he/she has something positive to say about that student. I was told by my Assistant Principal, that when they put my class roster together, they thought I was going to have a rough class. The behaviors that my guys were known for having added up to a tough year for me. When I first saw my list, I was ecstatic. I knew 3 of my 6 students and knew of 2 more, and was very excited to have them in my class. I was not aware of the "behaviors" that the administration had apparently seen in them. I wasn't aware of my "difficult class" until my AP had told me halfway through the year. It wasn't until I sat down and thought about some issues some of my students had that had the potential to cause a difficult class. The reason I never saw this before, was because a lot of the potential behaviors never came out, and whenever a behavior did happen, we dealt with it and moved on, we don't dwell on the negatives, we focus on the positive. I think the chemistry my paras and I have is a huge factor in the success in our room. We all love what we do and we all genuinely love our kids, even when we are at our wits end with one of them. I think my students can sense that, and because they know we truly care, they feel comfortable enough to relax and let their true selves show. Once that happens, then optimal learning can really occur. My paras and I have made a point to know our kids, what they like, don't like and how they learn best in order to really connect with them. I have one student who loves to sing, especially Lion King songs. Him and I sing together just about everyday, usually alternating between "I Just Can't Wait to be King"(he sings Simba's part and I am Zazu) and Hakuna Matata" (He's Timon and I'm Pumbaa). In October our school held a talent show. I told the music teachers that I wanted him to sing in it, and they were surprised but they agreed. Time came for the talent show and he got up on stage (with me right next to him) and stole the show with "I Just Can't Wait to be King." His past teachers and paras as well as the music teachers were blown away by his performance and came up to me after the show saying how they were so impressed by him and never would have thought he would ever do something like that. My reaction (in my head) was "are you serious?" This little boy loves attention and all he does is sing. The first thing I thought when I first got to know him was he needs to be a soloist in our unit's show (which he will be in May). Every child we will ever come across as teachers, has a special talent, an area where he/she really thrives. It is our job to find that talen, bring it to the forefront, and use it to help that child reach his/her full potential. That way when your students' next year teachers come up and ask you about them, you will have positive things to say.