""Dangerous minds""

An interview with Miss Johnson. A teacher with fire in her heart.

Miss Johnson, tells our dear readers. What did you feel when Mrs. Nichols explained you that English II-P class needed urgently a teacher for the next day?
Well, I felt many things. Mrs. Nichols told me that they were 44 students. First of all, I thought that I had not any concrete tool to teach them. For example, I did not have any copy of the book students were using. On the other hand, however, I felt that situation could be a challenge for me. And I also thought that if teachers encourage their students to take risks I had also do the same, and just believe in my students and I.

Were Hal Gray pieces of advice good ones for you?
Yes, totally. He gave pretty meaningful pieces of advices which I still really appreciate.He taught me, for instance, that it was not an intelligent idea to try to outshout students. He told me that did not work at all. Mrs. "You just stand up in from of the class and wait for them to shut up" Hall told me,and I have realized it really worth the time.

Do you think you have taught your students to be nice and respectful?
That's what I hope. I have given my best trying they could understand that they have to respect each other, and that it is pretty necessary to be nice. I remember, once I told them that one of our principle rules will be: BE NICE. As I have seen, I think it has worked not successfully, but at least they try to be nice and respectful.

You have been witness of the big change that your students have experimented during these semester. What do you think is the key to achieve all those wonderful changes?
It is a hard question, you know, I have just tried to listen what my students want to tell me. I think that the biggest problem that Education has is the fact that teachers do not pay attention to what thier students feel or think. As teachers do not take into consideration their cultures, what they really need. We just impose them contents which do not have relation with their lives and with themselves.

Once, you let them to write on the board everything they knew about you. Did you feel they knew you?
Of course, yes. Despite of I told them to write what they really want to. They were pretty respectful, and none of them hurt my feelings. They wrote things such as: wears red boots, we can see them, you are fair. Those phrases soaked through my heart. They show they are making an effort in order to know me. I really appreciate that.

Do you think teachers in your school are not interesting in encouraging students to believe in them?
To be honest, and as Hall adviced me once, all teachers have their own way of teaching, and maybe, because of the bad experiences they could have had, they are unmotivated to teach and learn from their own students. So I think that I also have to be tolerant with them and show them students can improve and, teachers have to believe in all their potencial.