As a new teacher at Doull Primary school in Denver, Kyle Schwartz thought of an easy way to know her third graders. Most of them came from 1 families. She asked them to complete the 2, "I wish my teacher knew…" and share something about themselves.
Their 3 answers helped the teacher to know her students' difficulties. "I wish my teacher knew I have no pencils to do my homework," wrote one child. "I wish my teacher knew sometimes my reading homework is not signed (签名), because my mom is not 4 ," wrote another.
"Some notes are really heartbreaking (令人心碎的)," Schwartz tells ABC News. "I care much about each of my students and I don't want them to be poor forever," She says, "I hoped to know 5 I could better support them. So I 6 to let them tell me what I needed to know. That was why I created the fill-in-the-blank exercise. "
The third graders could answer anonymously (匿名地), most wanted to include names. And some were even excited to read their notes out loud, 7 one shy girl. She bravely said that she was lonely. "After she told the class, 'I don't have friends to 8 me,' I was worried what they would do," Schwartz tells Us Weekly. However, I felt happy to see how much support the other kids offered 9. They invited her to play after class and sit with them at lunch. You see, 10 have a special ability to help others. "
"The results are surprising," says Schwartz. "It speaks to the importance of giving people a voice and really listening to them."
