Educating Esme

Impetus: The force or energy with which a body moves. Energy, every classroom needs to have this important component. According to chapter 2 of Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom students need this term when differentiation is being used. Abraham Maslow taught that humans need their basic needs met before any energy to learning can be made.
Emotions are more important than learning! Or in other words, emotional needs trump any need to learn. Have you ever noticed that when you are overwhelmed or anxious or stressed you have a harder time remembering basic tasks or knowledge? It's because all your energy is going into what stress is on your mind. You mind is blocking the doorway into learning. For students they don't' arrive saying, "Please teach me math and science." They instead come thinking, "Will I be accepted here? Will my thoughts be important to the class? Can I contribute anything?"

Learners have five key needs:

1. Affirmation
• I am accepted here
• I am safe here
• People listen to me here
• People know how I am doing
• People believe in me
• My interests and perspectives are noticed and acted on
2. Contribution
• I make a difference in this place
• I bring abilities and perspectives that are unique
• I help others and the class succeed
• I am connected to others through mutual work on common goals
3. Power
• What I learn is useful to me now
• I make choices that contribute to my success
• I understand how this place operates and what is expected of me
• I know what quality looks like and how to achieve it
• There is dependable support here for my journey
4. Purpose
• I understand what we do here
• I see significance in what we do here
• What we learn reflects me and my world
• The work we do makes a difference in the world
• The work absorbs me
5. Challenge
• The work here complements my ability
• The work stretches me
• I work hard
• I am accountable for my own growth and the growth of others
• I often accomplish thing here I didn't believe were possible

I think that people as a whole need all of this in all aspects of their lives, but children need it the most. They are still in their years of trying to figure out the world and their place in it. The better these needs are met the better they will do in the world. They can be connected far better to the people around them.

Differentiation mean all students may have the same basic needs, those will manifest themselves in different ways, depending on many factors. All needs come at different times and we can never know when those times are. It's important for us to have a plan for when they do.
The book talks about a dairy written by Esme Raji Codell called Educating Esme. It is the story of a first year teacher in a Chicago public school.
"Fresh-mouthed and free-spirited, the irrepressible Madame Esmé—as she prefers to be called—does the cha-cha during multiplication tables, roller-skates down the hallways, and puts on rousing performances with at-risk students in the library. Her diary opens a window into a real-life classroom from a teacher’s perspective. While battling bureaucrats, gang members, abusive parents, and her own insecurities, this gifted young woman reveals what it takes to be an exceptional teacher. 

Heroine to thousands of parents and educators, Esmé now shares more of her ingenious and yet down-to-earth approaches to the classroom in a supplementary guide to help new teachers hit the ground running. " This explanation comes from Amazon.com

It is an excellent example of the needs of students. It's easy to look at the things you haven't done, but it's better to look toward the future and embrace fantastic opportunity we have as teachers to shape lives and make a difference. We can make the choice now to work on those needs our students have!