writing essays...Yesterday when I was observing, the class was looking at their papers that they have been writing over the course of the last few weeks and were doing some peer review. I was able to work with one child who did not have a partner and was amazed at how much my experiences have helped me to be able to help this young boy. As I was reading his paper and making changes on it, I was thinking to myself about how he and I are not going to be the same and we are going to be thinking along different lines just because of our backgrounds and personalities. The way he was dressed and the things he was writing about and carrying himself, I could tell that we were not goign to be alike, but by using some of the thoughts that I have come to think about more through this class I was able to help him without focusing on the fact that we are different people. As I was reading his paper, I was asking him about what was going through his mind and why he wrote about what he did. This was able to give me some insight to where he was coming from and why he thinks how he does. I thought back to the lessons from this class and how they have already changed my thoughts about people and how to approach situations that I may not normally be comfortable in. Another thing that happened yesterday was I was working with another student who was obviously quite the Bears fan. Everything he had on in addition to what his school supplies where had to do with his favorite team. So of course his paper was also about his passion. Luckily for me I was raised in a very sports oriented house where football was important so I was able to relate to him and the subject of his paper and help him in a way that some others may not have been able to. Both of these kids were able to teach me something. One taught me that even if you are a little different from each other you can still work and accomplish what you are trying to. The other taught me to try and find that common ground with the student that you are working wiht to show them that you are a person just like them and have similar things in common. I think that these are both very valuable to being a teacher or someone who is working with any kinds of students...we can always learn something!