Tag Archives: forthrightness

Not Even….

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, distraction issues, Education, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

November 2, 2022- Perception is 9/10 of reality.

The young woman stood resolutely in front of me, demanding to now why I was focusing my attention on her small group of friends. It was simple: They were not working as expected, and had no intention of doing so. A flood of “whatabout___ and_____” was offered as a rebuttal to my reminders to get the work done. Those groups had completed their assignments, and thus earned her scorn. Being found wrong is a hard thing at any age, but particularly at 15 or 16.

Nonetheless, there is much to respect and admire about Leah (not her real name). Her work habits of this morning aside, she has more integrity in her thumbnail than a good many adults I know. I will also never discourage forthrightness and speaking truth to power. I am sure that she regarded my watching them as a form of stalking, a suspicion borne of God knows what unwanted attention, from whom.

This was one of those occasions where I stepped outside of myself-seeing a mistake in approach to a management problem and drawing insight on how I might have done things differently. A skipped assignment can always be made up. It was explained to me later, by an administrator, that Leah was having a hard time of late. As mentioned earlier, there is always a back story.

This is all a bit ironic, as for 43 of my 45 years in education, my focus has always been the well-being of the child. (The first two years were spent in a system where teachers were feeling their way out of the Dark Ages, and my track record was not all that wonderful. Remorse and atonement are wondrous things.)

As it happened, later on today, a case of verbal harassment of another student was handled swiftly-and the miscreant ended up apologizing to his target-and to the class. I am favourably impressed by the administrators at that school.

As for Leah, and any student-especially a girl or young woman-the thought of me looking upon her with lascivious eyes- ummm, not even! Perception is 9/10 of reality, however-so, it’s wise to mind the perception.

Feisty

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Education, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving

February 10, 2022- The usually quiet, self-absorbed girl sat with a group of more outgoing friends, watching as they crafted “pointy fingers” out of computer paper. For some reason, this is the rage among pre-teens in this community, right now. As long as they are not used as weapons, and does not interfere with lessons, it’s tolerated. The quiet one decided to give this craft a try, putting the paper concoctions on three of her fingers, eventually deciding the devices were too tight on her fingers, and giving them back to her friends.

Her actions, in both directions, were a good thing, in my view. She is a bright, engaging child and can only benefit from taking part in frivolous, but harmless, activities. Conversely, she got a couple of the more rambunctious kids to open books and read quietly for about twenty minutes. That is a start, as well.

I say this, having been an introvert for a good part of my childhood. I am more given to ambiversion, over the past several years. It’s just more enjoyable to be among others and to exchange views and experiences, with a wide variety of people. It is this that I wish to see for those who remind me of myself as a child-and thus to show their inner feistiness.

Forthrightness is the outer expression of internal security and self-trust. If it means being a bit mischievous, that’s okay. Secure adults, in turn, can deal with a modicum of feistiness from children and youths, and direct that energy in a way that builds the young person’s character.

Besides, I would rather have feisty people looking out for me, in the event I someday become infirm and confined. Even if that doesn’t happen, spirited people are still more fun.