Compasion

Any teacher can write on a chalkboard and pass out homework, but only the special teachers will take the effort to show their students compassion. The interesting thing about compassion is that it cannot be faked. Students of any age can easily pick up when someone is not being sincere, so finding a teacher who truly cares about his/her students is very special.

I still vividly remember in 3rd grade, my dog passed away. This was my first time really experiencing death in my life. It was difficult for me to accept what was going on. Most of my young memories included my dog and he was like a brother to me. My teacher heard about my dog dying and she pulled me aside one day and told me that if I ever wanted to talk to her about it she would love to hear about my dog. So, the next day I brought in pictures of him and stayed after school. I flipped through pictures and told her stories of my dog. I remember feeling so much better after talking to her and reliving some of my favorite memories with him. Looking back on it now, she did not have to spend her time listening to a child tell stories about some random dog. I know she had other important things to do, but she instinctively knew that this was important to me; therefore she made it a priority.

Compassion is about simply being there for your students and making their lives important to you. I hope that when I am a teacher I will have the same compassion my third grader teacher had and be able to make my students’ lives not just inside the classroom, but outside as well, important to me.