Literacy Strategies 2023

 Here is the presentation where you can find our four "take away" activities:  Paired Readings, Effect / Cause Graphic Organizer, Claim / Evidence Inference, and Word Play.

AVReading Newsletter February: Forgiveness

 

I make so many mistakes throughout the course of any given day that I often wonder if I am doing more harm than good.  

            Each morning as I walk to school, I ask to be an instrument of love, mercy, and compassion, not an instrument of pain and hurt.    I am continually working to forgive and in some cases “ask for forgiveness.”  A while back, I took the rather rare step of removing one young man from my 5th hour class for the day.  My finesse skills are usually much better, and I like to employ other tools than removal.  But on this particular day, I told the young man, “You need to leave.”  He clearly was not pleased, but I insisted that he must go and that we would talk about this later.  The incident sat in my head for the rest of the day and even as I fell asleep that night.  The next morning, I was walking the halls on another task, and I bumped into the young man.  As soon as he saw me, you could see the look of dread in his eyes.  But before he could say anything, I said, “Hey, I’m actually here to see a different student, but I am glad that you are here.  I’ve been thinking a lot about yesterday and how things happened.  And I want to tell you that I am sorry.  I was impatient, and I acted too quickly.  I can be better.”  The student paused for a moment.  Looked up at me and said, “And I know that I should have been more willing to listen to you.”  He held out his hand for a shake, and said, “I’m sorry too.”  

            As much as I like to believe in the tools of science to help educators make good decisions in the classroom, I also know that we are imperfect beings making thousands of decisions each day, most of which are good but some of which are bad.  Our journeys as reflective practitioners will require some study of grace and how it should play out in our lives as teachers.

            Here are some important considerations on forgiveness.

            Who Have I Hurt?  Sometimes this is easy to answer. We can readily identify those moments when you can just see the pain we have caused flash through the look on a student’s face.  Sometimes, this isn’t an easy answer we might feel justified in our responses—even if they do cause pain in others.  And sometimes, it difficult simply because we are too proud to admit that we were wrong or simply unwilling to put up with the childish or rude behavior of others.    

            What am I Carrying?  In some cases, we carry the guilt and shame of our mistakes long after others have let it go.  Once we have taken responsibility for our errors and have made amends where possible, we need to forgive ourselves and move on. Carrying that emotional pain eventually becomes a matter of harmful pride.  

            How Do I Make Amends?  Not every misstep will require a formal conversation.  Again, the sheer multitude of mistakes we make on any given day would mean one big constant “I’m sorry,” and that really does not do anyone much good.  I generally know when I need to make amends to someone based on the magnitude of the event and the persistence of that event on my conscience.  It gets more complicated when we are on the second or third apology to an offended party.  But even in those cases, the return to dialogue with students shows a willingness on both parts to invest in the relationship and make things better. 

 

Find the entire newsletter here.