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Describe a recent time when you’ve been discouraged with a student’s progress. Have you witnessed a change in the student’s life, or are you still waiting for that change to occur?
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I have witnessed times when I have seen students make unwise choices. I see it as a growth opportunity and an opportunity to show love and extend grace. Through showing the student love and grace I am able to point them back to the love, grace and mercy that God has extended to each of us.
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I had a student who was very disorganized, couldn’t focus for very long, and did not manage his time well. I was constantly having to keep him in at recess for not getting work done and having to make phone calls home to keep parents informed. At the end of the year, he told me the thing that he liked most about me was that I never gave up on him. I continued to push him to do better. I wanted to cry.
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At the beginning of this school year, immediately I realized one student had a strong will and propensity for disrespect. I had a few conflicts with him and realized my strictness without love was only going to make it worse. So I started showing him extra kindness, setting an example of cleanliness, serving, touching his shoulder, smiling and praising him for good work, etc. His diligence and grades started improving. By the end of the school year, when I said goodbye, his face softened, he smiled wide and said Thank you, Teacher!
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A time when I have been discouraged with a student’s progress was at the beginning of the school year, but by the end of the school year he was in tears because he did not want the school year to end. I can attribute this turn-around in the student’s behavior to showing him unconditional love in how I reproved, corrected, and instructed him (and the class) through biblical philosophy. There are many students over the years I have instructed, counseled, ministered to in whom I am still waiting for this change to occur, but many have gone on to become educators, pharmacist, doctors, lawyers and ministers of the Gospel. Seeing this gives me Hope for others and the ones they encounter.
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I had one student in my math courses the past two years who was much older than the other students. My courses were online, so the other students did not realize her age. She wrote me an email at the end of the school year thanking me for being patient with her and motivating her to learn difficult concepts. As an online teacher, I don’t see my students face-to-face. But I have been blessed to see growth in my students.
