So I publicly humiliated a student today…

I teach 9th grade English in a large urban school that’s being rebuilt out of ruin. Our students are 80% homeless; most of them have suffered trauma; almost all of them read at least 2 grade levels below grade.<br><br>Some days, it’s hard. Today, we’re working on vocabulary in class because this is something they desperately need to make up some ground. One of my students, a new transfer, walked in on a day when the kids were supposed to have made flashcards. The flashcards are really important part of this exercise, and most of them did the work, but he didn’t know that. <br><br>When he didn’t have the flashcards, we improvised. We used a blank sheet of paper until he could get the flashcards made up. But then I did something stupid.<br><br>At the end of class, I said, loudly, in front of the whole class, “Make sure you get those flashcards made tonight.”<br><br>He looked at me and said, “I don’t have any flashcards. I don’t have a backpack or any pens or pencils or paper. I don’t even have a lunch money.”<br><br>The room went silent. I apologized and then I went home and cried.<br><br>That was a really shitty thing for me to do. That kid made a choice to come to school today even though he had nothing. That takes a lot of guts. I’m horrified that I humiliated him like that. And I’m gutted by the very thought that he has nothing.<br><br>I can’t fix the system by myself, and I can’t fix this with him by myself either but I’m going to try. The school is going to try. I need to be more considerate and compassionate. That’s my resolution for the day