The Common Core of Goodwill
By Michelle Gunderson.
One of the things you learn as an elementary teacher in the Chicago Public Schools is to always have materials available and an extra desk or space for new students. You learn to expect the unexpected and that a child can show up on your doorstep at any minute of any day.
And usually it is not an easy matter. Many times children who come to us after the first weeks of school are displaced or have parents who are seeking a school that can help their troubled child.
These were the thoughts on my mind when a little boy appeared at my classroom door in the second week of school this fall, an hour after school had started, without an adult accompanying him to the class. I took a deep breath and tried to talk myself into a place of calm. There was so much on my teaching plate already, and I did not know if I was going to be able to embrace one more Herculean task.
And I was right. The child who was given into my care needed me in countless ways.
His family was experiencing housing insecurity, and he had been exposed to very little schooling. Everything was new – letters and sounds, standing in line to go to recess, putting a coat in a locker. The Chicago schools extended to a 7 hour day three years ago, and at every minute of that 7 hour day this young child was being asked to climb new mountain of learning. It was exhausting for us both, and his classmates.
One of the things 6 year olds do best is revealing transgressions throughout the day:
“So and so took my place on the rug.”
“So and so just snatched my toy.”
“So and so just chewed my hair.”
“Just chewed my hair?” That one was new to me even after 28 years of teaching. It was clear to me that I was The Common Core of Goodwill - Living in Dialogue:
