A colleague was absent today. She is a favorite among the students and class seemed difficult without her - or so I heard. Our sub was not accustomed to our school culture. She was strict - which is fair when you have to be the sub. But her strictness felt like meanness to some of my students. I stopped in to check in with a student about an entirely different matter and was met with furious whispering. "What should we do?" "She is so mean!" My advice was simple. "You got this. Stay calm. Do your work. Be kind and remember that the sub is new." About five minutes later, I got some emails. "There is a problem. Please come back," one student wrote. "I just got yelled at and it wasn't my fault," wrote another. My reply remained the same: "Stay calm. Be kind. Remember she in new here." The reply from KP was the best: "I will stay calm." For her, this is real growth. After the period was over, they a
Thoughts and reflections on maximizing academic, professional and personal learning.