Crow Boy

Crow Boy is one of my favorite children's books. In the book, a small boy, Chibi, is ignored by his students and teachers for five years until he reaches the sixth grade and has a new teacher. His new teacher sees his potential and his hidden talents and brings out the best in Chibi, to the surprise of all of his classmates. 

When Chibi performs at his school's talent show he brings tears to the eyes of everyone in the room because his classmates feel terrible about how they treated him for so many years. Every time I reach this part of the book, I also find tears in my eyes, even if I am standing in front of a group of student teachers.

I chose to read this book to my students when they returned from their twelve-week student-teaching experience. My students only have one more month of classes and then they will be released into the world as English teachers. They will be sent all over the country in the Fall to begin their teaching careers! By reading this book, I wanted them to remember the difference that one teacher can make and also to be on the look out for future-Chibis.

After reading the book, my students wrote their first Haiku poems. Here are a few examples:

in a strange classroom

a lonely boy who loves crows

students laugh at him

a tiny small boy

who imitated crow sounds

a very bright boy

spends his time alone

a strange little lonely boy

sits under the tree

a nice boy walking

looking up and down in trees

to see birds and worms

very shy crow boy

little boy never missed class

crow boy loved flowers

I hope that when my students begin their careers, they are the kind of teachers who are able to bring out their students' hidden talents. I want this new generation of teachers to embrace all students equally with a message of acceptance and the conviction that every child can be successful in school, regardless of previous experiences. I believe that my students can change the world and I hope they believe it too.