Patience and Compassion

Today I have been reflecting on the relationships that I have fostered with my students, particularly my AP seniors. This morning as I arrived in the parking lot two of my seniors (boyfriend and girlfriend) ran over to me and asked where I had been because they came early to give me their formal picture. On the back of the picture they had written "Thanks for being so great to us. We love you. Sorry for being such a bother sometimes. We will miss you."

Reading this little note has really gotten me thinking. Throughout this year I have questioned myself on how I run my AP class. Due to the fact that I have no prior experience with the material I have had to adapt how I typically interact with my students. Rather than being a pool of knowledge that runs class in a fairly regemented way, I have allowed for my AP students to have more freedom in seeking the knowledge and learning the material. Now, I still instruct the class and maintain certain expectations of the class but it is a more relaxed atmosphere.

With that... The girl that brought me the picture has been getting frustrated with her struggles in the class recently, to the point of tears on occassion. On the last test day she came in and lashed out at me with a statement about the difficulty of the test that they were about to take. Instead of responding in anger to the comment, I forced her to see the situation rationally and then calmed her down and supported her through it. That day I went back and forth wondering if I should have responded more severely. I now think that I handled this particular situation in the appropriate manner because she knows her behavior was uncalled for and she also knows that all of my actions in that class are done because I care. I am seeing more and more that students respond best to patience and compassion as opposed to oppressive discipline and teaching strategies.