Don't Let Me Be in That Story

Friday, a colleague of mine was talking about how much he wished that he knew more about math.  He said, "I liked math until my geometry teacher . . . "  The rest of the story is fairly predictable.  Every teacher in the hallway had the same reaction, "Oooohhhh, please, don't let me be part of a story like that."

When you follow teachers online or attend back to school meetings or even just listen to a group of teachers talk, you will hear a lot of positive talk about our influence on students.  We are often encouraged to think back to "that one teacher" that made a difference for us.  We are told about how far reaching our impact can be.  We are encouraged to remember that what we do can put a kid on the right path.

All of that is true, and it is important for us to think about.  Every once in a while, we must force ourselves to recognize that the flip side is also true.  Our positive impact can carry far, but so can our negative impact.  Just as we can all point back to "that one teacher" who made a positive difference, most can also point to "that one teacher who made a negative difference.  We need to take active steps to not be "that one teacher."

We are human, and we will fail.  We will have bad days.  We will be snippier than we ought to be one day when we aren't feeling well.  We will make errors.  Those foibles will not make us "that one teacher" if we handle it correctly.  When we realize what we have done, we should own it, apologize to students, and make it right whenever that is possible.  Students will understand that we are human if we do not pretend that we aren't.  Letting them see you own and redeem a bad moment is more powerful than the bad moment itself, and it models an important life skill that they need to develop as well.

Unless you are remarkably mediocre, students will tell stories about you.  They will tell them today.  They will tell them tomorrow.  They will tell them to their children.  They will tell them decades from now.  What story do you want them to tell?  Live that story so they can.