I am currently doing my pre-student teaching hours at a middle school nearby. I had an extremely valuable experience the other day while I was assisting. That particular day, there had been a lot going on with news on the budget bill, the risk of layoffs, and walkouts. The events that took place in the classroom that day will be the basis of my protest project. I keep a teaching blog, as well as an art blog, and below I have pasted a section I wrote that particular day: There was a lot of tension in the classroom today. The teacher told the students that she wasn't having the best day, and that it was a bad day for teachers. One of the students replied, "What do you mean? It's a great day!" I really appreciated his optimism. This interaction between the student and the teacher was very powerful to me. The negativity of the teacher completely interfered with the students' learning that day. The power that the teacher had in bringing her entire classroom down just amazed me. But, the impact that particular pure and innocent student made was beyond his years. He has no idea how impactful his statement was. On this day, the students were making origami lilies. The juxtaposition of the lilies and the negativity in the classroom was very contradicting. The lily symbolizes devotion, innocence, purity, and youth. A teacher should be devoted to his/her students. I thought that this occurrence had a lot to do with the meaning behind walkouts. A teacher could be symbolized as a lily, in the sense that they are devoted, maternal figures, but this concept is completely backwards when teachers decide to walk out. While the educator may be corrupt, the student remains pure and innocent. They remain devoted to learning while they are in school.
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