Not always a "Merry" holiday season...

As educators we need to remember that not everyone has a cheerful holiday season. Many families do not celebrate Christmas or Thanksgiving because they either do not have a family tradition, or they do not have the money to buy the turkey and the other food. As teachers we need to be sensitive to every ones feelings and beliefs, so we need to be neutral as possible, even though the holiday season is very important to us. I really enjoy the holiday season and setting up the house with all the decorations and the tree, but a lot of students do not. Many students also do not receive presents during Christmas, and they have a bad experience during the holiday time. Students in class talk about what they are asking for and the presents that they are going to get, and some students don't say anything because they already know that they are not getting anything. These students can sometimes start unusual behavior problems and start acting out in class. But worst of all, some students don't have a family to even be with during the holiday season. This is going back to knowing your students. Are your students in foster care? Are your students homeless? These are the challenges that teachers are having more and more during these tough economic times of the recession.