Daily Helping:
Week 08 (February 19 - February 25):
During this 7 day period, consider the need for teachers to enter into the realities that their students face. At a minimum, this will produce sympathy and/or empathy; a sure sign of a seasoned teacher (not necessarily determined by years on a payroll grid) is the innate ability to compassionately understand the reference point from which a student's behavior manifests. When a child is disruptive and ungrateful, can you as a teacher understand that they may not have had dinner last night or breakfast this morning, and that his/her single mother may have had a violent encounter with an inebriated boyfriend in the last 24-hours? This is an extreme example which should, in principle, represent a whole host of possibililties from which we can describe the many reference points from which our students come from and experience life. How does this concept affect the way we relate to youth in society and find balance and rhythm in modeling for children honorable citizenship traits, instructing students in such a way that we separate behavior from the dignity of each individual soul and communicating high academic and ethical standards? If we can begin to appreciate the dynamics involved with the realities which students experience, then we will be on the road to developing quality professional relationships which are built upon mutual respect, appreciation and true joy in learning, as well as sharing in both successes and failures which life in human society affords both young and old; this is the formula for prosperity within and without the classroom and will benefit communities and society as a whole in both the short and long term!
During this 7 day period, consider the need for teachers to enter into the realities that their students face. At a minimum, this will produce sympathy and/or empathy; a sure sign of a seasoned teacher (not necessarily determined by years on a payroll grid) is the innate ability to compassionately understand the reference point from which a student's behavior manifests. When a child is disruptive and ungrateful, can you as a teacher understand that they may not have had dinner last night or breakfast this morning, and that his/her single mother may have had a violent encounter with an inebriated boyfriend in the last 24-hours? This is an extreme example which should, in principle, represent a whole host of possibililties from which we can describe the many reference points from which our students come from and experience life. How does this concept affect the way we relate to youth in society and find balance and rhythm in modeling for children honorable citizenship traits, instructing students in such a way that we separate behavior from the dignity of each individual soul and communicating high academic and ethical standards? If we can begin to appreciate the dynamics involved with the realities which students experience, then we will be on the road to developing quality professional relationships which are built upon mutual respect, appreciation and true joy in learning, as well as sharing in both successes and failures which life in human society affords both young and old; this is the formula for prosperity within and without the classroom and will benefit communities and society as a whole in both the short and long term!
© 2009-2013 J.T.A.S.P.
Last modified: March 04, 2013
