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The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Betty Grossman
Teacher of the Month
By Crystal Patriarche
Grossman says that her favorite part of teaching is that it is an artistic job. She enjoys the way teachers have to weave the conversations and learning together. Her least favorite part of the job is state testing, because she thinks kids are over-tested, at least in her area.
Randy Holzman, an Illinois mother of two boys ages 10 and 15, has known Grossman for the last 12 years. Her younger son has Grossman as a teacher now and her older son had her five years ago. "She has amazing energy for teaching," Holzman says. "It is obvious to those who know her that this is her passion. She is the perfect combination of warmth and caring while having high expectations for her students."
One thing Holzman particularly likes is how Grossman treats all of her students with enormous respect, and she says the kids love that Grossman shares bits and pieces of her life with them.
Grossman's class is called "The G Team" and on the first day of school, as a part of the team, the children learn a poem called "A Safe Place," which they recite each morning.
Grossman says she starts the day with this mantra, which is made of four or five sentences to reinforce that school is a safe place where opinions are respected, where there is laughter and people should be kind and considerate to each other. "We say it out loud together, and I have kids that come back 20 years later and can still say it," she says. "It's a neat way to start the day on a high note."
Following this poem there is applause and handshakes before the tasks of the day begin. The children come to count on this ritual as it sets the stage for a classroom of acceptance and tolerance.
