What I’ve Learned: The Power of Character in the Classroom
Educators may spend their careers preparing lessons, but often the most memorable are those they learn themselves. With that in mind, NEA Today asked school staff – everyone from classroom teachers and bus drivers to guidance counselors and school nurses – to share the everyday lessons they’ve picked up along the way in a series called “What I’ve Learned.”
What I’ve Learned: English Teacher Margaret Flaherty
I’ve learned the power of forgiveness. I used to think it was weakness, that to forgive was to allow another a free pass to mistreat me. However, I get my best disciplinary results when I forgive students for their misbehavior and tell them that the true expression of their atonement is in their making a change in their comportment. I am clear with them that tomorrow is a clean slate for both of us, and I explain the positive behavior that I expect. In all of this, forgiveness is the linchpin.
I’ve learned that greeting a student by name at the door goes a long way toward making the classroom a community. It is an individualized invitation for each student to feel and be important when he or she enters our shared work space. And I’ve learned that it is ours. My work is their work, so I do my best to invest in them as partners and recognize them as individuals. I learn who my athletes are and wish them well on