Was reminded today that our words often carry a lot more weight with our students than we think. Especially at this time of year when it starts to feel like no one is listening. Did a writing conference for a student today- one of six I did that period trying to finish before the weekend. Gave her feedback and a simple compliment on how much she’s improved in writing over this year so far. She came back after school, knocked on my locked door with tears welling, just to say she appreciated the encouragement, that it had been a tough week and she had really needed to hear something positive today. And I told her, that honestly, I had been having a tough week myself, and that her coming to tell me that was something I really needed to hear today, too.