Nov. 20: What is one life lesson that you are thankful for having learned? Remember when Atticus says, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…. until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”? That right there, that idea that everyone has a story, that is the life lesson I'm thankful to have learned. Sometimes the story is simple. Today in English 2 as we prepped for a Socratic Seminar on the universal themes found in Of Mice and Men, Austin had his head down and was refusing to look at me. Was he just being rude? Did he not complete the reading assignment? So I asked. I needed to climb into his skin before I jumped to conclusions. "Hey. Everything okay?" I asked. I learned that he had a terrible migraine and was waiting for meds to kick in. He stayed in class where we completed our class dialogue with the lights out for Austin, who ended up being one of the most thoughtful contributors to our discussion. All I had to do was ask. Sometimes the story is more complicated. During my early years of teaching I had a 10th grade student with a chip on her shoulder the size of Texas. She didn't engage in class, was often snippy, and seemed to shut herself off from others in our English 2 class. I didn't push, but I knew there was a story there. One day it was revealed in her journal writing when she shared that she had been raped by an older boy at a party. By putting on her skin, her attitude made perfect sense. Today I read this older article by Matt de la Pena about the "tough teens" that many of us encounter. How many Joshuas have we encountered in our careers, the kids who have a story to tell but no one to tell it to? I've been guilty (and will be again, I'm sure) of pigeon-holing a student, letting one interaction sour my entire relationship with him/her. But I try to be better, to continually relearn the lesson and be a better listener. Because everyone really does have a story.
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