Words

Today, I was reminded of how important our words are.  Something was said, my heart sank, and I was distracted for a good 10 minutes until I could self-talk myself into feeling better.

I wondered how many times I made a student feel like this, and was never aware?

Part of our job is coaching and providing feedback.  Encouraging feedback when positive decisions are made and supportive feedback when negative decisions are made.  We preach "Growth Mindset" and encourage students to accept feedback as a way to stretch  thinking and revise their work for the better, that failure is a chance to try again and improve. Kids should understand that and accept it, right? Perhaps, I'm wrong?

Why did this comment get to me?  It upset me because it was said carelessly, without regard to the history or truth behind it, it was an empty statement. There was clearly no intent to help me improve or grow - just a blanket statement that was meant to do nothing but probably gives this speaker a chance to say something.

What did I learn from this? RELATIONSHIPS are so important! TRUST needs to be established, so that when the tough things need to be said, they are said with love and respect. And those on the receiving end don't perceive it as a negative comment but trust that it's intended to help them grow.

Relationships are a two-way street. Perhaps, I need to be the one to reach out and communicate why the statement crushed me, or perhaps I simply need to just get over it and realize that we're all human and say dumb things sometimes.