...in the other guy's shoes before you judge too harshly. This is sometimes hard to remember, but essential in education. Particularly urban education.
I have, at times, gotten pretty pissed at this or that student who always falls asleep in class. It can feel like the student just doesn't care, and is being personally disrespectful. At other times it has been students who refuse to even attempt assignments that are up on the smartboard. Sometimes a student will always sit in the back of the room scowling in what seems to be a defiant manner. These can be young people that would scare people who have never left the suburbs or their hometown just by looking at them. It turns out (not always, but enough to make an impression) that the student who falls asleep is working two full time jobs, one of which is the overnight shift, and comes directly to school from work to try and learn something. Sometimes such a student HAS to work this much to support his family, or to pay for his own rent and utilities because he is living alone. Sometimes a student won't try work on the smartboard because they can't see it! They have never been to an eye doctor, can't afford glasses, and are embarrassed to talk about it. Sometimes a kid who is NFL-size huge and looks threatening and menacing is actually using a scowl to hide behind because he is still just a little kid inside and is scared to death. He might have to walk through more than one gang territory to get to and from school every day, and he is doing his best to keep clear of them and get an education. For such young people, just knowing some adult is willing to listen to them and trying to understand can make a big difference. It can be humbling. Walk a mile.....
Very good advice! I always want to walk a mile in the other guy's shoes before I criticize him. That way, I'm a mile away, and I have his shoes. Safer that way.