MY BIGGEST IMPACT!
There have been many relevant impacts on my life as an educator, some negative, and some positive. One of the greatest impacts on my life as an educator was from James Garrett’s book, This Book Will Make You Kinder. This Empathy Handbook gave me insight into many things I did not know before like “empathy-limiting mistakes.”An empathy-limiting mistake is any mental state that would change in light of new, more accurate information, and would change in such a way that you find yourself with greater empathetic motivation to pursue a particular course of action. I keep this information in my mind with me everywhere I go because it helps me become a better person with an open mind. Empathy practices can also be passed down to my future students in the classroom to help their compassion growing up. This book also gave me a better understanding of developing a strong, courageous, moral kindness, one that will help you fight cruelty and make the world a more empathetic place.
I’ve had many experiences in a classroom, whether it is being a student or a teacher. I'm going to tell a story about one of my greatest impacts as a student. It was a sunny Thursday afternoon, and we had just gotten out of lunch and went to our 4th-period class. I would not say that I was a full-time scholar during this time, but I did manage to get most of my work done. Though, on this particular day, I had brilliantly decided not to turn in this assignment that had been due for many days. My teacher at the time was Mrs. Volesy, a golden-hearted delight that everyone was in awe of. Being that she had already given me so many extra days, she was fed up with me and decided to make an assignment for the whole class, except for me... She made the whole class redo the paper that I had failed to turn in. As the class was doing this I sat next to Mrs. Volesy the whole time while all my classmates were fuming that I made them do this. Mrs. Volesy taught me a valuable lesson; that even though it is a classroom, we are all a team, we all strive to do our best and grow to our fullest selves, but if one of us is on the wrong track, we mess it up for the whole team. This experience opened my eyes to look at the classroom as not only somewhere where we learn and do work, but also where we could meet the team that drives us to be better people.
Source:
Garrett, Henry James. This Book Will Make You Kinder. Penguin Publishing Group.
Hi Jeslyn,
ReplyDeleteI am glad you reminded me about "empathy limiting mistakes", I too had a really powerful experience learning about those. Once I became aware of them it is hard not to notice when they're happening. Empathy is so important to bring in the classroom to understand where everyone is coming from and be willing to create a safe place for them. I think by modeling this our students can pick up on it and learn how to be empathetic. What an interesting method and approach your teacher took for that assignment. I definitely would have felt really bad, it sounds like you took that and made it into a useful and positive experience. I have never thought of the classroom as a team, but I love that idea. We are all trying to do our best and our peers can definitely help shape our experience in school. If you were in your teacher's shoes, would you do the same thing today? Would you have a different idea or approach? I am curious how you would handle a student falling behind now.
Hello Jeslyn! I enjoyed reading through your response as I also was impacted greatly by the "This Book Will Make you Kinder" chapter that we read for class. I found it so interesting that I had never heard of such a thing before and I was caught off guard that I was guilty of making several empathy limiting mistakes. I am thankful that we had the chance to learn of these common mistakes before they made their way into our future classrooms.
ReplyDeleteI also loved that you discussed your personal experiences as a student! This connection made your response more meaningful and impactful. I often think of a classroom as more divided. Where we as educators ensure that each student is learning their own way and at their own pace as much as possible. However, your comments on teamwork are more geared towards how the world works. Creating a classroom that promotes teamwork will ensure that our world works better as a team in our students future.
Hi Jeslyn! I have also gained insight into many things from reading This Book Will Make You Kinder. I agree we need to have an open mind to be better people. We can’t expect a better place if we have no empathy. Empathy needs to be taught in the classroom to ensure our students develop compassion that will further help them in their futures. I like your personal example that you wrote that relates to an empathy- limiting mistake. Your teacher went out of her way to make sure you completed your assignment instead of just giving you a zero. She didn’t give up on you and decided to encourage you by giving your whole class a lesson. It really does suck when one person messes it up for the whole class, but it does help the student learn about teamwork and to work responsibly to not bring others down.
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