Get Your Students Hired
Something I had to learn in my early years as a teacher was that I needed to not focus on the trouble that students were causing me but to focus on the trouble they were encountering in their lives, both in and out of the classroom. Yes, it's painful when students make our lives more difficult, but we are there to serve their academic and personal growth needs, not the other way around. So a little mental shift helped me get my attitude right and help my students more effectively.
I am in agreement with you and it does not always take that much time to just find out where the student is really "coming from".
Hi Christa,
Many of our students have very sad stories to share. We need to show our students how much we care about them as people and their success. Some caring can turn a troubled student into a good student. Most of our students are DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH.
Patricia
It is true that a little self reflection and tenacity can really go along way in not giving up on a troubled student. I have worked a lot of years with students whose behavior has gotten them unfairly labeled as "trouble makers" when in reality, they were simply troubled. No one can learn when the basic needs, be they physical or emotional, are not met. There are times when I have to lecture myself that I may be the only supportive person in their lives and I can't give up. Like you, I have reaped the benefits of hearing from my former students. Some have gone on and turned their lives around and others have not done as well. What is so important to my career is knowing that I had some impact on their lives---even if it was just for a moment in time.
Dr. Sandy Gecewicz
I agree, I have tried to work with those students that seemed to have outside problems creep into their academics. While I believe I have been successful at helping many, I must admit I have lost a few along the way. The good news is that some of those lost, have corresponded with me years later. Only then did I realize, I had made an impact, I just did not know it at the time. The reality was that I had given up faster than they had, I just did not realize my mistake.