classroom notes #20: growing as a teacher

"You are a good student."

Recently I said this to a P.2 student who I kept behind during recess because he had been acting up in my class. I sat down as I talked to him so I could look into his eyes as I told him his worth.

"I KNOW you are very clever and smart. I KNOW you are good."

I said it emphatically because I know my student and I know his potential.

What I didn't know was the effect that this simple praise would have on him. His eyes started to well up and he smiled shyly as he used his sleeves to wipe away his tears, all the while standing tall. You read about touching teaching moments in books like Chicken Soup for the Teacher's Soul or something, but as a teacher, lecturing day in and day out, repeating instructions for the infinite time, one tends to forget the power of words.

When I was in primary school, the district tried to implement a new programme to raise students' self-esteem and build up self-worth. Every morning we were suppose to look into the mirror and tell ourselves out loud, "You are good, you are great and everyday we try our best." But as children on the cusp of the teenage years, we mocked it as childish and in our pretend-adult kind of way, couldn't comprehend how these words could have an affect on us at all.

But what if there are children out there who have never had anyone tell them that they are good, they have worth, they are loved and that there is someone who believes in them?

When learning to be teachers, we are taught about positive reinforcement, how to give praise, how to reward good work, but perhaps we also need to be taught as teachers, to see in students (even the 'naughty' ones) that they are good.