Do I have the Full Picture?
We've all faced that dreaded moment: your week has just sucked, you've worked way more than usual, you have 2 tests and a paper due, and it's 11 pm. You're opening up canvas to send your professor a plea for an extension, and you have to decide just how much detail you want to include, do you simply ask for the extra time, or do you tell them about just how overwhelmed you are? We all live busy, complicated lives in which school is only a part. While many of our students won't be dealing with the 'adult problems' we do, we have to remember that they live entire lives outside of our classrooms.
The truth is we will never know the full picture of what's going on in our students' lives, and that's ok. Students could be experiencing mental illness, abuse, divorce, or food insecurity. The student who's falling asleep in your class could be trying to get through the day after helping their parents with their siblings so the parents can work, or they could be experiencing homelessness and haven't had a good night's sleep in a very long time.
I think this means that we should give all students grace and understanding. Let that student sleep for part of the class, let a student step out for a phone job interview, look the other way when a student breaks the dress code. We might not be able to fix all of our student's problems but we can create a space where they feel comfortable, and offer ourselves up as trusted adults.
Hey Mallory! I really loved your introduction, that was a very real and powerful example to connect this topic to our everyday lives! I also appreciated that you took a different route of responding to this topic through talking about our students in our classroom rather than the larger issue that seems impossible to fix. I agree with you that as a teacher, we should be paying attention and be empathetic to our students experiences. While we hope and pray that our day is going to go exactly as we planned it, that is not always going to happen. While you may be having a great day and be ready to teach your students, they may not be having the best day and feel like they need extra support from us. I liked how you brought up looking the other way when it comes to dress code and I have always felt the same way! When I was in middle school I was having a really tough week and I had just moved to the new school so I was already feeling out of place. When I got dress coded (for wearing a knee length skirt WITH leggings underneath) and pulled out of class I felt so out of place and it made my day even worse! Taking the time to talk with a student and understand their view on things and what they are going through can make a world of a difference. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this topic!
ReplyDeleteI have heard so many similar stories, glad this resounded with you!
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