Often, as a teacher, it's your responsibility to say no. When you're in a position of authority, you typically have to be the final word for almost everything. It's a heavy weight to carry, especially when you don't know what your students are thinking or feeling. Is it right to sit down and motivate a student to work, when you don't know about what stresses or anxieties they may be facing outside of your classroom? Many times, it is the healthy students who will perform best in the school. When they feel safe, or comfortable, school is a place to be open and honest. However, there are other students who don't want to be open.
Their boundaries, no matter how deep, must be respected. I cannot begin to talk about how painful it was as a first year teacher, to uncover the difficulties that some of my students were facing. It is the invisible sickness that runs through the school. What I've learned is that it does more to tell a student that their boundaries are respected, than to encourage them to open up. To provide a student with the ability to say no may take away your authority, but it also opens up a voice inside students to know that they have power.
My students tell me of their difficulties often, though lately, they have felt much less like difficulties. When all of us admit our struggles, we are opening ourselves to the potential for growth. To admit our faults is to aspire for something better. When we push our pain down, we also push down our potential to heal, or to grow into someone greater than before. To heal, often, is to learn, which is my purpose and prerogative in life. It seems necessary then for any teacher to have a degree of vulnerability, to teach students about life through their own growth and development. We all learn, or heal, in unique ways, and often, when we come out of our difficulty, we feel more like ourselves. Every classroom is full of unique learners, festering deep inside themselves to feast and grow.
Next week, my students will be writing their own scary stories. My heart is beating with excitement to read their stories. They have already shown great creativity and work ethic- it's exciting to uncover the stories that they will write about soon!
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