Finding common ground with students builds bridges in Columbus-area classrooms

I see this movement across Facebook quite often. The aim is to encourage us to find things in common, things that unite us and bring us together. With so many torrents of division blowing us to and fro, finding commonalities seems to be a simple solution to a growing problem.

Teachers have a knack for this, you know. I’m not sure they teach the skill in teacher prep school, but somewhere along the way, educators assume the skill and practice it fluidly. Maybe it’s out of self-preservation or desperation. Standing in front of 30 children from all walks of life would certainly cause one to grasp at something to bridge gaps and erase walls. And teachers do it well.

I had a student once who was a struggle. He was not interested in most anything I said, and no matter how hard I tried, trying to get him interested in “The Canterbury Tales” was never going to happen. Beside his lack of enthusiasm about English class, he also had a cloud of disdain over him that covered just about any and every thing. But one day he wore a Seattle Seahawks sweatshirt into my New York Giants world, and that was all she wrote! We immediately started a banter that crumbled down his walls, and for the rest of the school year, I had him hooked. His face would change when he saw me, and I knew I could reel him in whenever I needed.

That’s the effect of finding common ground.

Erin Sizemore, at Eagle Ridge Academy, can attest. She began her dealings with children of diversity as an 18-year-old high school graduate. Putting off college for a year of service in Naples, Italy, Erin learned lessons no college professor could have taught her. She became an English language tutor at an Anglo-Italian Montessori School where she worked with students from literally all over the world.

Different cultures, customs and languages came together in a single classroom, and Mrs. Sizemore was charged with the great task of finding something to unite them all. That was the norm for Mrs. Sizemore, and she learned how to reach children in their world, not hers. And what a translation the experience had when she came back to America and had her own classroom full of diversity.

Bridging huge gaps between us starts with taking a risk, taking a chance to forge a relationship. By definition, doesn’t the word relationship make us think of commonalities? How we are related, in some way, some fashion? So, we can learn a great deal from a teacher like Erin.

It’s hard work, sure. Most people can’t imagine how difficult the skill is to master, but talk to a teacher. Especially when 30 faces don’t look like you, 30 backgrounds aren’t similar to yours and 30life experiences are unfamiliar to you, the task is daunting. But talk to a teacher – because it is possible. Mrs. Sizemore and the thousands of teachers across this great city can attest to that fact. It is possible.

Take a student named John. John has autism. He doesn’t learn like his 29 classmates, so his fourth grade teacher has to make a decision. Let John flounder, or find a firm piece of common ground he can stand upon. For Mrs. Sizemore, the decision was obvious. It’s the same decision any teacher would make – do something. Find some way. Discover some foot hole to offer a child so he can climb out of the chasm of separation, or grab a rope and belay down to meet him where he is and then help him up.

So Mrs. Sizemore took a chance and developed a relationships of trust with John, and John allowed her into his world. The two formed a bond that cemented a bridge between the two vastly different worlds. John learned how to express his frustration and his needs, and Mrs. Sizemore learned how to pull the very best out of her beloved student.

Even after their year ended, Mrs. Sizemore and John continued their relationship. John needed a quiet place to eat lunch, and Erin offered a seat in her classroom, and the two bonded even further.

Sometimes you have to dig, though. You might have to get your hands dirty to find the jewels of similarity, but the benefit is worth the work. John certainly was. The Seahawks kid certainly was.

Everyone is.

So, the challenge for today: go digging. Strike up a conversation with someone who doesn’t look like you. Take a chance to see what the world looks like from someone else’s point of view. Who knows? The view might just be spectacular.

Sheryl Green is a secondary educator in Columbus. Email her at sherylgreen14@yahoo.com.