Kyle Schwartz is a third grade teacher in Denver, CO. As a young adult, she worked at the education nonprofit City Year in Washington D.C., where she painted murals, scrubbed off graffiti, and served food to the homeless. After City Year, she moved to South America to work on the program, English Opens Doors, a joint effort of the United Nations Development Fund and the Chilean Ministry of Education, which opened her eyes to how much teachers can do for their students. When Schwartz returned to the U.S., she worked as a student teacher for a year while earning a master’s degree in education from the University of Denver.
One day, third-grade teacher Kyle Schwartz asked her students to fill in the blank in this sentence: “I wish my teacher knew _______ .”
The results astounded her. Some answers were humorous; others were heartbreaking. All were profoundly moving and enlightening. The results opened her eyes to the need for educators to understand the unique realities their students face in order to create an open, safe, and supportive classroom environment. When Kyle shared her experience online, teachers around the globe began sharing their own contributions to #IWishMyTeacherKnew.
Kyle’s book tells the story of the #IWishMyTeacherKnew movement, with dozens of students’ handwritten emotional and insightful responses throughout. It provides a look at systemic problems that affect students nationwide, like poverty and mobility, alongside issues that affect millions of individual students, such as trauma and the challenge of developing meaningful classroom relationships. Kyle shares real stories from students, teachers, and family members that shed light on how we can all help students tackle challenges and grow as individuals. She shares strategies that can work in classrooms across America, ultimately presenting a practical guide to adapt the I Wish My Teacher Knew exercise to suit any classroom’s needs or educator’s teaching style
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