Grace

Mrs. Willis accuses my blog of sounding like excerpts from a sermon from time to time. It's a fair analysis. As a preacher's kid I'd like to think that the backyard sermons I received from my dad somehow moulded my thought process. If the gray area between religion and school offends you, or simply isn't your cup of tea, you should probably stop reading this one.

This time of the year we struggle with how much to give of ourselves as people and professionals to help students succeed or just pass. Missed assignments, poor attendance and a myriad of reasons and excuses lead us to do more because others did less. On the one hand, we can set expectations and draw a line in the sand. You miss too many days: you fail. You miss the deadline for an assignment: sorry; do better next time. On the other hand, we give and give in hopes that the student will learn and will one day recognize the effort that went into helping them succeed.  Perhaps the learning and personal growth we hoped for will be achieved and it will all be worth it. These are the two ends of the spectrum and most of us fall somewhere in the middle, but lean to one side or the other. To be honest, this argument can even create conflict between our personal beliefs and our professional goals. Hold on this thought for a moment.

Most educators believe in a higher authority. You almost have to to stay in this job! I think that it comes down to faith. We have faith in one another, faith in our students and faith in the system that we work within. It all revolves in a belief that we are here to help one another and that we will all do our best. Faith is an easy concept. Just believe that it will be better. But if you believe in a higher authority, you also believe in grace, and that is much harder to practice. We all need grace. We all make mistakes and hope that we can be forgiven. Grace, on the other hand, is much harder to practice. We want it for ourselves, but find it difficult to give to others. Grace can be enabling or rewarding, and you just never know which way it will go.

So back to our troubled students. Where does our desire for personal grace intersect with our ability to give help and second chances to others? That's a tough thing to determine. It comes down to a personal belief and a reflective brain. When you decided to become a teacher, was it because of an inspiring teacher that gave you second chances to be better or because of a teacher that never budged? The answer will be different for many of us, but my advice is that all of us should be the teacher that we needed when we were younger and the person that we need now.  We all fall short and we all could learn a lesson or two, and in the end, most things work out for one reason or another. My dad would call that reason grace.

Think hard about grace and how best to administer it over these final weeks of the school year. Our reactions to student needs stem from our beliefs and do not necessarily reflect our own needs. Find your line and help students accordingly. If you need help finding your way through that gray area, I can try to help. I think that's my job. Be reflective instead of reactive and do your best to determine how grace should be administered in learning, as in all other aspects of our lives.