Sunday, March 16

Sunday Shine* { What The Students Feel }


The postcard above is from today's PostSecret.
Reading it made me feel better.

During my first year, I broke down and cried four times in front of my students. The first time they were stunned and silent, until one of them gave me a hug. The second time, they all berated the one student who pushed me to my edge. I didn't stop them. The last two times, they cried with me and apologized.

My inquiry/iSearch for this semester is centered around this question:
How can I effectively teach and practice empathy and compassion with my students in a learning environment that is hostile, unstable and unsafe?

The best way to teach love is to act with love.
When I think I'm not doing my best, when I'm beating myself up over something I said or didn't say to a student, or when I think I have no business being in the classroom is when one student will tell me out of the blue that I'm his or her favorite teacher. And I always have to say something really corny to prevent my eyes from tearing up.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Moving post.

Though, it's hard to show empathy and love sometimes when the students are on your last nerve. I guess that is when they need the most empathy, right?