Who is it about anyway?

As we go through this program I find myself picking the brains of kids and parents.  Trying to get a pulse for how they view school.  Trying to expand my knowledge beyond my experience and attempting to see into theirs.  I realize that my experiences are just mine.  They are different from yours and hers and his.  Together they create a new and dynamic picture.

I know that I do not want to become a teacher for me.  It isn't about me at all; it's about the kids.  One thing that truly excites me is the knowledge that by teaching I will still be learning.  The world is not a static place but as adults we can become static: not stepping out of our box, not broadening our horizons, not trying new things.

Yesterday, I heard a statement from a parent of a middle school student.   The student's block teacher said, "she is used to teaching the highly capable students and she wouldn't teach down."  Her new class was not highly capable this year.  How did she mean this statement?  I would hope that she meant that she planned to challenge the students and have high expectations for them, which would be great.  Or did she mean that she didn't care that this year's class was not labeled highly capable.  That is how she teaches and she was not going to adjust her ways for this class of students?  Unfortunately, based on the parents and the students experiences this year it seems as if the latter was her meaning.

So I ask, is it about you, the teacher?  Or is it about your students?  Why would you not adjust your norm to give the best to your students, at whatever level of learning they are experiencing?

All I can say for that teacher is that I hope she isn't assigned a class of students who really need her help, the ones that may be below standard.  She would likely do more harm than good.