Every student needs to have the opportunity to feel special or uplifted
or important. That is called being human. For years I have observed
professional storyteller, Chris Vinsonhaler, as she allows students to
become "stars" among their classmates. No performer is more effective
than she is at getting students, teachers and administrators up on the
stage doing things that an audience loves.

Vividly I recall one performance at Oak Park School (then called East
Elementary) where now-retired first grade teacher, Beth Rhinehart, was
given the task of acting like a washing machine adjitator. Her students
were thrilled to see this and they became party to a sense of belonging
and being a group.

Students want to belong. After the basic needs of survival and safety
are met, affiliation needs are the strongest motivator for behavior.
Any kid who struggles for acceptance or a need to fit-in is a potential
risk for low achievement, nonperformance and inappropriate behavior.

Some students have lost their spark and thus their motivation to do
well or even make the effort to do well. Teachers are expected to
educate a classroom of children and to include each student in the
process of learning how to learn. Often they are expected to do work
that the parents neglect or find unimportant. Things like reading,
communicating in complete sentences, manners, etiquette, conflict
resolution. The list goes on and on.

There is no "upside" to being different or unlike most of one‚s peers.
Tolerance for those unlike ourselves begins in the home and thus makes
the classroom far more comfortable for all students. Basic things like
hygiene, not interrupting, saying "please" and "Thank-you," kindness,
respect for personal property the property of other‚s, and even eye
contact are best learned in the home.

The student who has benefitted by such basic information is already a
rising star with some sense of value and worth. But each student
deserves the opportunity to enjoy star-status. If you are a parent,
please do your part to equip your child for the real world. If you are
a teacher, please add yet one more task to your list by making sincere
effort to have every student feel included and special.