from Terry Hayek
Always accept the best in students; at worst, assume there is more to know.
If they fail, assume they tried and want another chance. Assume that they were not aware of what they were not aware of or that they did not understand the scale or effects of the failure.
If they break a rule, assume they didn’t know about the rule. At worst, assume they forgot.
If they say or do something that reflects badly on them, accept that they are young and still learning how to see themselves. Or assume it was something they only had to say or do once to learn from it. If they do it again, accept that they just need more time to learn and grow. Of course, you won’t always be right, but the purpose of this kind of guesswork is not accuracy, but to allow children to grow.
The assumptions you have about your students and why they do what they do are powerful things. And these assumptions often come from your thinking about what a teacher “should do” and what a student “should do.” They can also create such a mindset (here they are 25 Ways to Help Students Create a Growth Mindset.) This means that what you assume can influence what you think and believe about teaching and learning. It goes both ways, and accepting what’s best for students—even when you intellectually know you’re wrong and that assumption isn’t true—can change the tone of your classroom.
Look Tone in Teaching: 20 Words That Can Influence the Tone of Your Classroom
Accepting the best in students should not just be a way of thinking, but rather a way of teaching. This should come through in the way you speak (“Knowing how important reading is to you, I’m surprised I haven’t noticed you read so much this semester).
This should be reflected in the way you teach (giving them 2nd, 3rd and 4th chances to complete assignments).
It should come out when you talk to parents about their child, and even when you design that next project-based learning unit, embracing the best of their potential and helping them see for themselves what they are capable of.
In the face of pressure to perform—from you and from students—patience can seem like a luxury. As a teacher, you are not paid to be patient or to give endless opportunities or to display endless and possibly irrational optimism.
Except you are.
If you need to think of patience and opportunity as bridges to performance, that’s fine. You can also think of it the other way around. We all have a strong temptation to teach others lessons, but there is a time of understanding that is extremely difficult to define.
Student life is messy, stressful and confusing. They’re kids—even when they’re in college. Their childhood is their time to live and learn and fail and learn and succeed and learn. This time truly never ends; we all fail and live and succeed and learn every day.
But for children, it is a particularly sensitive time as they develop their sense of self and need support in developing the kind of identity and mindset that will serve them for life.
Accepting the best in a child, even when they give you reason to think otherwise, is one of the most significant investments you can make in their future.
Always accept the best in students; at worst, assume there is more to know.
