One of my extra duties is to be morning hall monitor. I stand in the hallway outside my office door and greet the children who walk past. Since my office is between the main entrance and the first-grade wing I get mainly the younger students. I smile at them and say "Good morning", and one of the most interesting parts of my day is to watch their reactions. Some of them look right at me and wish me a good morning. Some of them are so busy in their bustling social conversations that they ignore me. Some walk past without noticing. A few visibly cringe, as if my cheerful greeting is too much for them to cope with.
When we talk about the diversity within our classes, depending on the context we usually think either of racial or economic diversity or of diversity in learning ability. But one of the biggest challenges for any teacher is to cope with diverse personalities. Shy children, confident children, noisy or quiet or distracted children. Children who will ask for help and those who won't. A few who will sit and cry at the computer instead of raising their hand to ask for help. The class clown, who usually acts out to cover up difficulties in learning.
We have to cope with all of the children, taking them as they come to us. Whether we're teaching math or history or how to conduct Internet research, the most important thing that we do is to interact with every child. And unless we have some connection to each one, we cannot teach them.