Teacher Pickles

I have always called my students “pickles” hailing back to my early days of teaching. My students loved those stinky, garlic pickles wrapped in plastic they bought from the corner store to suck all day. Teenagers are like pickles; they are sour in temperament, sharp in odor, but I cannot get enough of them. I love them. Pickles have hard rinds, but are still green-fresh inside. The light that shines from my students’ eyes with exuberance and joy are cucumbers of spring.

I wrote that passage in an essay published in Pluck! Literary Journal last year. As I return to teaching all these years later, my new students delight in being called "pickes" as much as my previous students. Some of my new students now call me "Ms. Pickle" in response.

The point is students love terms of endearment. Developing strong, healthy relationships with students is the key to success in teaching. A teacher cannot give hard, honest criticism on their work without first establishing a sense of affection between us. It is integral to the process of teaching.  Children crave a sense of belonging in the classroom and it is my joy to provide that for them. Classrooms are an extension of our homes, really. We invite students in to do their best work and we teachers must push them to succeed. That cannot be done unless they are comfortable, feel loved and valued.

Calling students "pickles" is a badge of honor my students wear. They know that I "claim" them as my own and value each and every one of them. Of course I do. My role as teacher is to serve students. To help them to suceed. To work for them; not against them. When my students succeed; I succeed. That is good teaching.