In the class room, it was just me and the students. It didn't matter if i had a good heart. I represented that institutional power that pushed them down. So they liked that i was kind, but they had no respect for me. And so then i my reaction born of frustration. You know, i would yell at the class and throw things around the room.i remember when i was reading out loud to them, if they weren't paying attention,. on more than one occasion, i would throw the book, not at a kid, but hurl it across the room.
Stephen Haff is the founder of Still Waters in a Storm, a one-room school serving mostly Spanish-speaking immigrant children in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Previously, he taught English at a public school in Bushwick for nearly a decade, before leaving to recover from the effects of extreme psychological stress that led him to re-evaluate how he would return to serve kids as an educator and activist. In his new book, Kid Quixotes (https://amzn.to/34zxPit). Stephen shares a powerful story about the kids and an incredible 5-year project to translate and perform a modern version of Don Quixote. He earned his MFA in Theater Studies at Yale, and has made a living directing plays and writing essays for the Village Voice and other publications.
You can find Stephen Haff at: Website: http://www.stillwatersinastorm.org/
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