Wednesday, July 20, 2022
Assume the best intentions from your students!
It is 4th period, Timmy in the 3rd row keeps looking at his phone. He knows that he is supposed to be reading, yet he is looking at his phone. You give him one, two, three warnings. Finally you get upset and ask him "what is so important on your phone?" Timmy then tells you, and the rest of the class, that his grandmother just died. In your anger, and assumption that Timmy was up to no good, you embarrassed yourself and Timmy, and possibly damaged your relationship with him beyond repair. If only you were more patient with Timmy, assumed the best intentions from him, and pulled him aside to ask if anything was going on. That would have save you and many others the trouble from the scene that was caused. When students are "acting out" more often than not they are trying to tell you something. Timmy was trying to stay updated with what was going on with his family, and that is much more important than studying a literature book. We need to believe that our students are good and have good intentions. We do not know what is going on in our students lives, but nevertheless we are here to help them get through it. Love your students and assume the best intentions!!
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Hi Jazmyne! Thank you for your thoughtful post and the reminder to always assume the best of our students. This is so important to maintaining healthy relationships and demonstrating respect and trust to them.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine that it would be easy to get frustrated when a student is continually on their phone and seemingly ignoring what's happening in class. However, we never know what is going on in a student's life. Even if it is not an emergency situation, there could be more going on than it initially seems. Maybe a student's parents will get upset with them if they don't respond, or maybe that student is just feeling especially anxious and is going on their phone to escape what is happening around them.
Whatever the cause, this is a great reminder that behavior always communicates something and we should seek to understand what a student's actions are trying to tell us rather than jumping to conclusions.
Thanks Jazmyne!
- Stephanie
"Love your students and assume the best intentions!!" The makings of a great educator
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