The Hidden Curriculum

Remembering a time when I was mystified and enamored by the smoke coming from a Jack-o-lantern filled with apple cider and dry ice at the 1^st grade Halloween celebration, looking back and recalling a safe and secure feeling because Mrs. Harrison was there for me after I had fallen from the monkey bars at recess, finally being perceptive of myself and life as a big picture because another teacher had the time to speak to me on a more personal level regularly. All of these things are only an undersized part of the role teachers and even the school environments have played in my life directly rather than through only their program of study. There is always what you learn in school, and then there is what you actually get from school. These experiences that we have in school and the way that the materials and the environment are presented and then observed are what we actually stand to gain in life.

The way that Mrs. Harrison taught us about Nevada's birthday on Halloween for a few weeks was so fun and memorable. Singing songs as a class about all of the states and counties in alphabetical order made it more exciting. I enjoyed learning and taking turns with instruments and asking questions about why the juice was smoking at the Halloween party. The whole school was wonderfully informative about the states, the counties, and of course all of the holidays. We were always making amusing and creative projects and attending events that really put forth an atmosphere that's memorable and meaningful to a child. Life experiences are important and shape and mold people and how people treat one another.

As a child, if the parents weren't available then I was fortunate the teachers had enough passion to relieve me in a time of need. Subsequent to flipping right off the monkey bars flat on my back and having the wind knocked from my chest, the panic and terror of not being able to breathe that I was feeling would've only gotten worse if my fellow students and the teacher didn't gather around and check to see how I was doing. Events like these teach children acceptance, empathy, nurturing and positive feelings and are most definitely not the things taught in the instructors college textbooks. Making children feel accepted and appreciated helps them to better understand ways to treat others diligently as opposed to discriminatorily. This is not usually something to be practiced in the homework or addressed in class.

When I was in fourth grade, I recall falling behind and becoming bored and upset with my work. I assumed I was too far behind to catch up and I also assumed that there was no reason to learn a lot of it anyways, especially if I felt I already knew it all. My teacher was named Mrs. Wilkins and she would take me aside and walk me through problems and stories to see my level of comprehension and attentiveness. If she hadn't done this and explained to me that I was completely capable of all the work then not only would it have been possible that I would've lost my drive to learn or participate in life somewhere halfway through my fourth grade year, but I could've felt cast out and left behind. I was recommended for a special class with only a few more advanced children that got to work on complex math problems or awesome art projects and if it wasn't for that teacher noticing the differences in her students I may have been a completely different person today.

The way an institutions culture comes across to the students is how our society is molded and when making decisions about a school's core curriculum this should be the main focal point, especially with today's diversities and varied interests. Even in taking the classes we take today, students are reading into the school and the teachers principles, beliefs and interests on a daily basis and formatting their lives and their schedules to conform to this, which is why the way everything comes across to the pupils is so important, down to the last detail.