Kyle Schwartz began a trend on Twitter as a result of her efforts to create more transparency in her classroom.
Educators often take on roles beyond academic teaching. Kyle Schwartz, a teacher of the third grade at Doull Elementary in Denver, Colorado, started a recent trend in hopes of understanding her students more deeply.
Schwartz teaches students who are mostly from underprivileged homes. In order to better understand and teach her students, Schwartz started an activity with her students that allowed them to share with her something that they wish she knew about them. The students were asked to complete the sentence: "I wish my teacher knew"¦"
92 percent of the students at Schwartz's school are of a lower income bracket, and therefore qualify for free and reduced meals at school. "As a new teacher, I struggled to understand the reality of my students' lives and how to best support them. I just felt like there was something I didn't know about my students," Schwartz told ABC News.
The students were free to choose whether or not they wanted their notes to remain anonymous.
"I have found that most students are not only willing to include their name, but also enjoy sharing with the class. Even when what my students are sharing is sensitive in nature, most students want their classmates to know," said Schwartz. "Not only can I support my students, but my students can support each other."
Some students wrote honest notes about their situations at home. One student wrote, "I wish my teacher knew how much I missed my dad because he got deported to Mexico when I was 3 years old and I haven't seen him in 6 years." Another wrote, "I wish my teacher knew sometimes my reading log is not signed because my mom is not around a lot."
Schwartz's idea brought visible results in the classroom, she says, so she decided to share the idea to other teachers via twitter under the title #IWishMyTeacherKnew. The activity caught on quickly and other teachers across the country began employing the activity in their own classrooms.
"Some notes are heartbreaking like the first #iwishmyteacherknew tweet which read, 'I wish my teacher knew I don't have pencils at home to do my homework.' I care deeply about each and every one of my students and I don't want any of them to have to suffer the consequences of living in poverty, which is my main motivation for teaching," said Schwartz in reference to the notes from the activity.
Schwartz hopes to engage her students and continue to build trust through the activity. "Building community in my classroom is a major goal of this lesson," she said.
