Interconnected care

The article showed teachers that expressed care for their students in many different ways. One particular is Michelle's teacher map. This stood out to me because although it doesn't obviously show her caring for her students, it expresses how she prepares herself for her day. As a teacher or youth worker it is very important to take care of yourself first. As youth workers, we often forget how important our own self-care is. Michelle's map expresses her care for herself but also still focuses on her students by talking about how she buys breakfast for her students and snacks other days. If we are not fully ready for our day or in the right mind-set, it can affect the population we work with, youth. I really enjoyed this piece from the article because this is something I often forget, and often need a reminder to rest, or to take a "mental health day" once in a while. Caring for ourselves as youth workers and teachers is caring for our students. 

At my internship care for students is always expressed by all of the staff. We allow our students choice, and make the school a safe place for students to feel free to express themselves and be comfortable. Although my internship is a very caring environment, I would like to see more involvement as a community. For example, the school has something called "silent meeting" but each the elementary, middle and upper schools all do silent meeting separately. I believe combining silent meeting into one large meeting would make the students feel a sense of community and care.