Reflections

I'm pretty sure that it is safe to say that most of us have, or have had teachers or professors who assign reading that is, well, boring.  I've had to read many chapters and articles by experts in certain fields, and sometimes, I just don't feel like reading them.

Tonight, we were going over an article in class that I did not read, but skimmed it in class.  I highlighted some of the key quotes, and stumbled onto this good sized quotation.

"I have come to a frightening conclusion.  I am the decisive element in the classroom.  It is my personal approach that creates the climate.  It is my daily mood that makes the weather.  As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous.  I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.  I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.  In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or dehumanized."

Um, can you say, "Ouch!"  I feel as though this quote is very convicting.  This quote extends past the classroom.  I don't typically make a child miserable, humiliate, or hurt them, but sometimes, I do miss out on chances to do the opposites.  How many times have we all just sat back and let things happen not really leaning towards one way or the other?  Aren't we all, at one point or another, in the position of teacher, even if it's not in the classroom?