Weekend Wisdom - Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones…

But Words Cut Deeper Still

Welcome to ‘Diary of a Teacher’. Here, you’ll learn what it’s really like being a teacher - but through a very delibrate lens of positivity. I approach this newsletter through my 3Gs - growth, giggles and gratitude - to rip up the online negativity around teaching and show the world how fortunate we are to be educators.

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Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it – Albus Dumbledore

I’ve made no secret of my intention to emulate Dumbledore in aspects of my teaching persona.

I try not to take myself too seriously.

I champion love, kindness and understanding over great power and winning.

And I have an unshakeable belief in the power of words (and have spoken about this before - click below to read).

The Magic of Words

This week, one individual showed me both sides of the coin.

Situation #1

Two students in my class had a fallout. Not pleasant but easily the most normal thing for children this age to go through. Both made mistakes, both said or did things they shouldn’t have and, hopefully, both will learn from it.

One of them [let’s go for Child 1] said some hurtful things and the other [say, Child 2] retaliated. Standard.

It was plain to see that the hurtful words had left a real mark on the target and their response, while not the best one, was heavily influenced by these words. Child 2 isn’t the sort of person to behave the way they did either, so I could tell just from that response that they were hurt.

That’s what words can do. They can bring out the worst in us, even mistakes and poor choices that totally defy our character.

But there’s more to words than the damage they can do…

Situation #2

Child 2 also used words to bring a huge smile to my face. One of both laughter and gratitude.

The TA is far more experienced than I am (we discussed this week how she’s been working in primary schools since I was a student in one, which I think broke her a little) but loves the TA role and flourishes in it. One day this week, though, she had to cover me and lead a lesson.

Child 2 – the same individual who’d suffered hurt this week – said to her:

“You should train to be a full teacher, you’re well fun.”

TA: “No thanks, I’d have to be professional and serious.”

Child 2: “Nah, just be like Mr Watson!”

On the one hand – why you little!

On the other – this filled me with pride. Not only do I have a hugely characterful person in my class who isn’t afraid to share a bit of banter, I genuinely believe they view me as a fun teacher.

I don’t want to be fun for the sake of it – I want my children to know that life doesn’t have to be too serious. We can be silly, we can laugh at life, we can make mistakes and everything moves on. Being a ‘fun’ teacher creates an environment where the students can be their authentic selves, enjoy being in school and perform to their best.

I really do think we’ve done that well this year.

The Real World

Not only is this a strong life lesson, it’s also informed my teaching.

As a Year 6 teacher, I have the pleasure of guiding them through a defining episode in their lives – the transition from primary school to secondary. It’s literally my job to send them into a whole new, big, scary world so I want each of them to leave with a parting piece of wisdom that I hope they can hang on to.

But what to say? And how do I make it unique and impactful for each individual?

At the start of the year, I wrote each of my students’ names in a list at the back of my notebook.

As the year has progressed, I’ve got to know the students incredibly well and discovered something that they are yet to learn. It might be an incident they could have handled better; it might be a lingering characteristic that they have to learn more about; it might be a fear or an aspiration that makes the future bigger than the present. It could be anything.

One by one, I’ve found the perfect message for almost every student.

In the final week of the year, I’ll sit down for a minute or two with each to give them my parting words – the words that I want them to hang onto. Words that will give me the best chance of continuing my impact on their development, even beyond being their teacher.

I want my students to grow up and remember me. I want something they do in life to be guided by what I’ve shared with them. I think every teacher wants this.

I want to make their lives better, as much as I can.

This, I hope, will be my parting piece of magic.

I wonder if, should I ever hear from them again in the future, whether they remember those words.

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Thank you so much for reading. Love you all!