Two of my students got into a smol water bottle incident the other day.
The water had spilled everywhere and we were in the middle of class trying to explain the lesson of the day. Seeing no paper towels, I grabbed a bunch of tissues and handed it to the boy telling him to wipe himself off at least. He scoffed and looked at me saying “yeah like that’s going to help.” I could feel my face flush with embarrassment (and feeling slightly mocked??) I simply replied “i was only trying to help you.” The student immediately looked very regretful that he had responded in such a way that he said “i’m sorry, i really appreciate it, thank you.”
As class ended and the students all filed out, he came up to me again to apologize saying “im really sorry, it actually meant a lot. I dont know why i said that but i really appreciate you trying to help me.”
My heart softened hearing his apology again. By him coming to me to apologize twice made me see my students in a different light. They’re truly kids. They’re barely beginning to understand who they are as a person and learning how to properly interact with others. They will say and do things that they don’t actually mean or intend negatively and the thing is, sometimes they don’t know why they do some of the things they do. I’m glad that day I didn’t respond with something sassy in return to his bcos who knows what he wouldve thought of teachers in the future? How much respect would he have lost knowing that adults don’t handle problems any different than kids do?