Teaching at Job Corps, I work with students who have life
experiences that I can’t even imagine.
Sometimes it is really hard to find common ground with these kids. They are from large cities. I’m from a small, rural community. I’ve never gone hungry in my life. They might not know if/when they would get
their next meal. At 35, I can still rely
on my parents if I need help. Some of
them may have never met one or either of their parents. The common bond for us is that we are
human. We have feelings and
emotions. Humor helps us speak a common
language and helps me reach students and let them know that even though our
struggles and life experiences have been very different, there are always
common bonds.
When I get a new student (and we have a new intake every two
weeks here) I spend some time trying to figure out what makes them tick, how
they view the world, their teachers, their new surroundings…A lot of times I
share with them some personal information – I have a daughter about their age,
how excited I was when I first got to (insert any major life event here), a
friend they remind me of, a favorite movie…these are all ways to let them know
that I’m just a person and that I care about what goes on in their lives as
well.
I have a degree in English, so using metaphors is certainly
no stretch for me. I’m also not above
creating a story to fit any given situation.
Only I know whether or not that story is 100% true or not, but if it
makes the student see a situation differently or feel better, then I don’t feel
bad about telling a “story” and presenting it as fact. One of my favorite movies is “Big Fish” for
this very reason.
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