The words I'm watching are my own. I have a student who I've heard a little about from another teacher - nothing bad, mind you. But this student is in my class for the first time, and I said, "You're an English major, right?" No.... "Oh, but you take a lot of English classes?"
Then he got worried. He asked how I knew that, if another teacher had said something. But the teacher he mentioned was a third teacher, not the one that had named him. I gave him a hard look, and asked if he was in the speech competition. He was, and I said he must be familiar from that.
Ok, now perhaps we could say I lied. Perhaps I should have told him that just an hour before, one of his teachers had looked through my attendance list and named all her students. But it is true - he did look familiar. And he was in the competition. So in the end, he got his answer and wasn't worried about teachers gossiping.
Well, that's great. But it has me thinking. See, I generally don't talk about students with other teachers - none of us do. We might talk about how a class is going, or a project we did with students. We may even mention that one student or another stands out. But we generally don't just complain about students or gossip about them.
But they don't know that. And frankly, I would be a little uncomfortable if I felt my teachers were talking about me. They might be saying only good things, but I can't know that. It would make me self-conscious.
So today I resolve to watch what I say in two ways: 1) I won't gossip about students. I don't think I do, but I'm going to make a special effort on that front - what a student says or does (even if it's in the public setting of class) is confidential. 2) I won't listen to other teacher's comments about students. Again, I really don't think I do, but sometimes a teacher lets something slip, especially if you have the same students. Now, I'm not going to be the annoying person, "Oh, stop. I don't want to hear any gossip." But I will avoid it tactfully, and, if I do hear something, be careful not to allude to it again.
All in all, I want to really respect my students. And watch my words.
Then he got worried. He asked how I knew that, if another teacher had said something. But the teacher he mentioned was a third teacher, not the one that had named him. I gave him a hard look, and asked if he was in the speech competition. He was, and I said he must be familiar from that.
Ok, now perhaps we could say I lied. Perhaps I should have told him that just an hour before, one of his teachers had looked through my attendance list and named all her students. But it is true - he did look familiar. And he was in the competition. So in the end, he got his answer and wasn't worried about teachers gossiping.
Well, that's great. But it has me thinking. See, I generally don't talk about students with other teachers - none of us do. We might talk about how a class is going, or a project we did with students. We may even mention that one student or another stands out. But we generally don't just complain about students or gossip about them.
But they don't know that. And frankly, I would be a little uncomfortable if I felt my teachers were talking about me. They might be saying only good things, but I can't know that. It would make me self-conscious.
So today I resolve to watch what I say in two ways: 1) I won't gossip about students. I don't think I do, but I'm going to make a special effort on that front - what a student says or does (even if it's in the public setting of class) is confidential. 2) I won't listen to other teacher's comments about students. Again, I really don't think I do, but sometimes a teacher lets something slip, especially if you have the same students. Now, I'm not going to be the annoying person, "Oh, stop. I don't want to hear any gossip." But I will avoid it tactfully, and, if I do hear something, be careful not to allude to it again.
All in all, I want to really respect my students. And watch my words.
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