The Excellent 11- Chapter 6- Compassion

I think compassion is a really important part of teaching. As teachers, we must keep in mind that we may be the only people some students will ever witness having compassion for them. We must remember to set an example for the students. In this chapter, Ron talks about being picked on in elementary school. As I was reading, I could totally relate. In elementary school, I was pretty overweight. Not only that, but I had crazy, curly hair that was definitely not normal-looking. Looking back, I was actually not teased as much as other students. At least not to my face. But whenever I was teased, it hurt. Bad. However, it did cause me to make some important, helpful decisions when I grew up, and I'm a better person for it. But no child should have to put on a brave face at school, deal with the teasing and the bullying, and run home to his or her room and cry about it after school. Because I dealt with teasing growing up, I'm very compassionate towards others who are bullied or teased. There will be none of it in my classroom if I have anything to say about it. My classroom will be a bully-free zone. I want to instill respect, dignity, self-esteem, and pride in my students. I want them to feel confident in who they are so they don't feel the need to bring someone down. Ron's ideas for controlling and preventing bullying and teasing in the classroom were awesome and very helpful. Not only should the students have respect for one another, but they should learn respect for adults, authority figures, and the elderly. I hope I can instill all of this in my classroom.