\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s boring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI guess.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis sucks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every educator gets these responses from students now and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 25+ years of teaching students who struggle with language, with school, or with themselves, I\u2019ve heard those lines a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Truthfully, on my less compassionate days, those sentiments make me cringe and roll my eyes. I know I\u2019m going to have to work so hard to change those knee-jerk (and kinda jerky) responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then I remember that teaching is not all about me. It\u2019s about my students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Statements like that are code for what may be years<\/em> of pent up fear, anxiety, frustration, failed attempts, shame, and disappointing experiences with learning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Remembering that <\/strong>is what allows me to find the compassion my students deserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remembering that <\/strong>is what allows me to go back to doing what I love to do \u2013 see students wherever they\u2019re at and give them whatever they need to get where they want to go in this world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis sucks!\u201d is the bodyguard for \u201cI don\u2019t think I can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I remember that <\/strong>and use it to guide my teaching, what they say to themselves and to me changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Teaching sucks when I forget that. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cNothing.\u201d\n\u201cIt\u2019s boring.\u201d\n\u201cI guess.\u201d\n\u201cThis sucks.\u201d\n\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d\n\nEvery educator gets these responses from students now and again. In 25+ years of teaching students who struggle with language, with school, or with themselves…","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n