A therapeutic reflection for the end of a school year. Classroom teachers unhook the blame or shame you have because you were not EVERYTHING your students needed.

1. Unhook the Blame and
Shame
that you have because
You Cannot be Everything
Your Students Need
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2. Part ONE
It’s not about you.
Do your best at all times.

3. What are students doing
instead of cooperating
with you?

4. Students are
protecting themselves
exposing their inadequacy of skills
from you
(Think of one student who frustrates you
because his/her low scores can be remediated,
but you haven’t gotten the chance to help.)

5. Student are getting the attention
they NEED to feel real…
any way they can
(Think of a student
who lives with many others
or has been stifled elsewhere.)

6. Students are looking
for audience
and power
(Think of a student who has no say in
what to where,
what to eat,
what to do…)

7. Students are dwelling
on emotional distractions
from home or from the outside world.
Think of a student who endures
divorce, death, unemployment…
sibling envy, poverty, overwhelm…
Change…

8. OR, Students are seeking
REVENGE on YOU
for being disrespectful, inconsistent, untrustworthy,
inattentive, unaccommodating…
(from their perspective)
A. You might be an adult representative of another adult.

9. OR students are seeking
REVENGE on YOU
for being disrespectful, inconsistent, untrustworthy,
inattentive, unaccommodating…
(from their perspective)
B. You might have ignored, disregarded, dissed…
a student with or without realizing.

10. Own it!
We are human.
We are imperfect.
The world for the students is the world we offer to
them.
So what can we do?

11. We can be intentional
with what we
SAY and DO
so that we conjure the world we want.

12. When we act disrespectfully to students, we
are generally
transcribing our own experience
and using them as our outlet…
We are writing our history onto them.
We are treating them
the way we were treated.

13. When we suffer from inadequate resources
(human or material),
we are unable to fully complete our tasks
as we deem possible.

14. Inadequacy causes frustration and angst.
We want that out of our bodies.
So, we share it
with the most receptive around us… the
students.

15. Student revenge on us
is the only student turmoil
we have to own.
The imperfections of society and systems
hold responsibility for the rest.

16. We can do only what we CAN DO…
You can do only what you can do.

17. AND…
What you can do,
changes every day,
every hour, every minute.

18. Own it if professional duties weren’t fulfilled:
 Lessons: planned and purposeful
 Consistency of respectful discipline
 Belief in student success
 Inclusion and accommodation
 Timely corrections
 Appropriate supervision

19. Otherwise,
let go of the guilt or shame
since it wasn’t about you.
You did your fair share.
You feel this because you care.

20. It’s not about you!
You did your best!
Notice the bold print and the exclamation!

21. Part TWO
Don’t make assumptions.
Be impeccable with your word.

22. Unhook the blame and the shame…
But know where they came from…

23. What are
the effective characteristics
of teachers you admire?
What does s/he say?
What does s/he do?

24. Do you want to be like
those whom you admire?

25. Then it’s easy…
just do what they do
and
just say what they say.
Adjust to your own style, and
Voila…

26. Okay, you are entitled to be you.
So put your ideal teacher into words
and then say and do
whatever you need to
in order to make this teacher real.

27. This ideal teacher is you.
Choose to become this ideal teacher
via your imagined ideal teacher…
translated into words,
translated into action.

28. Your words become your plan of action.
Your plan of action becomes your
professional reputation.
Your professional reputation is your
societal currency, clout, and power.

29. When you act or speak
against your own plan,
you experience shame
And accept blame…
unnecessarily.

30. So, always be impeccable with your word:
SAY and DO only
that which manifests
your description
of an effective teacher.

31. Have you made assumptions
about teaching?
Do these assumptions
bite you with reality?

32. Assumptions that Sabotage
 We are part of an educational system.
WRONG!
 My students come to me ready.
WRONG!
 My title and position give me power.
WRONG!
 Administrators/lawmakers do what’s right.
WRONG!
 Teaching is easy, just like playing with kids.
WRONG!

33. Assumptions can
lead you to disappointment, frustration,
discomfort…
Assumptions can misdirect your energies…
and steal your confidence,
your morale,
your pride.

34. Unhook the shame and blame!
Get rid of assumptions!
Find truths and reality!
Then, react to respond to
the truth and reality.

35. Summary
It’s not about you.
Be true to your word with your actions.
Don’t make assumptions.
Do your best at all times.
For further convincing, read
The Four Agreements: A practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz

36. Now go into the world knowing
YOU are a HERO!
No shame, no blame.
You showup every day. You plandaily. You deliver daily.
You increase in professional know-howdaily.
You increase the use of educational psychology daily.
You choose respectful and responsible ways daily.
Students change, leadershipchanges, schools change, politics change, classrooms
change, the weather changes… you change daily!
This is the ART of teaching. You are the choreographer. It is you, your skills, your
conditions that enter the classroomand face students…Make it joyful!

37. Remember:
Good, Better, Best
Never let it rest…
Until the Good is Better…
And the Better is Best!

38. Cut out and wear proudly:
Hero

39. Thanks for viewing today!
TeacherTMI: Ten Minutes of Information
Unhook the Blame and Shame
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