Hats

The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins

By: Dr. Seuss

Bartholomew Cubbins is a poor boy who lives in the Kingdom of Didd. According to the laws of the kingdom, you must remove your hat when King Derwin is near. As soon as little Bartholomew saw the chariot carrying King Derwin he immediately removed his hat. To his surprise, every time he removed his hat another one mysteriously appeared.

The 500 Hats of Nikki Fideldy

By: Nikki Fideldy

Nikki Fideldy is a poor teacher who works in the Kingdom of Rugby High School. King Blikre and King McNeff demand your hat be removed while inside the kingdom. Unlike Bartholomew, Nikki would have to run around and pick up all her hats she had lost throughout the day. During a pleasant stroll through the cobblestone halls, King Blikre stepped on one of Nikki’s hats and fell. Red with fury, King Blikre marched down and demanded Nikki hand over all her hats. “You have too many hats” yelled King Blikre.  She gave him the following:

·         Accountant

·         Advocate

·         Architect

·         Attorney

·         Author

·         Bus Driver

·         Career Counselor

·         Carpenter

·         Cheerleader

·         Chef

·         Coach

·         Computer Expert

·         Curriculum Writer

·         Detective

·         Doctor

·         Janitor

·         Mad Scientist

·         Physiatrist

·         Secretary

·         School Concierge

·         Stand-in Mom

·         Teacher

·         Tutor

Feedback

At the end of semester one, I gave all my students a teacher evaluation. When I handed out the form most of them didn’t understand right away. I had to spend a couple minutes explaining why I wanted them to evaluate my class and me as a teacher. Right away, they thought it was a joke. After some convincing they filled out the form. Many of them were so proud of the things they wrote they were even confident enough to write their names on it. Many of them made the following comments: “Why would you even care what we think”, “Are you going to fail me if I said something bad”, “Do we get to do this to other teachers”, and “What are you going to do with what we say”. It was at this moment I realized that teachers shouldn’t be the only ones giving feedback. Some of their comments were hard to take but it’s because of them that I am a great teacher. My best games, activities, and labs came from ideas from them.

I don’t believe I give the best feedback 100% of the time. It becomes very challenging to give timely feedback when you’re wearing 500 "hats". I have to remind my students and myself at times that I’m only one person working many different jobs. I get paid the same amount if I stay at the school until 4pm or 11pm. I believe now that my students have realized that I’m only human and the extra time I put in is for them not me.

 

 

“I think it’s important for a teacher to get looked over by their students. They could tell the teacher what they like and don’t like and if it’s mandatory to learn you can find a different way to teach it. Over all I think it creates a more relaxed learning environment when a student and teacher compromise.” – Nicole Atkinson