i vow...

as a teacher, i vow that i will always try to hear every voice. of course, this doesn’t mean that i’ll let someone spew hate-filled words, but barring that, i’ll try to hear every voice. i will try to always make sure that my students feel they can speak in my class, participate in discussion and feel that what they have said has been valued. we don’t always have time to explore each comment, but that doesn’t mean that i don’t appreciate that a comment has been made.

i never want one of my students to feel as if she or he has been brushed aside, ignored.

i know that there have been and will be more personality clashes. there will be students who just don’t like me. there will be students who i just don’t like. regardless, i’m in the front, or the unintended focal point of the circle for a reason. sometimes, i just see myself as moderator. it doesn’t matter how i feel personally about a student, his or her voice should be heard during discussion (as long as he or she is adhering to my stipulation that discussion remain respectful…and we can discuss any topic while maintaining respect for all involved, because i said so). even if it nothing more than a simple, ‘okay,’ i will try to acknowledge every contribution made. this may sound like some vast task i’m setting for myself, but really, it’s not. (you can’t count all of the side conversations, i’m only talking about discussion points that have been shared with the group as a whole). if nothing else, i want my students to feel confident raising their voices in my class. if i could extend this to their entire college careers, i would, but i can’t.

i know that i have screwed up in this area and i will again, but i will be more conscious of it from here on, i vow.

[i typed this up elsewhere and i don't use capitalization when i'm my only audience, but i'm not going to go back through inserting letters from the upper case.]