Reflections on Glasser "Being Valued"

Recognition and affirmation should not be given in the form of hollow phrases and glib formulas of praise.It takes effort to understand our students.It takes effort to read the many signs that enable a teacher to work out an individual's character, but without the effort of dilligent and objective observation we will not recognise the nature of our students.If we do not understand them we cannot truly love them or value them.
The careful thorough and ongoing task of student observation is a prime teaching task. It is one of the tasks that we carry out each evening as we review the day and plan the next.We can focus on the students; what did we learn about them today.This is much more than a review of lessons.All those small things we've noticed can be brought to consciousness and reflected on .This practice prepares a teacher to meet each student the following day.Knowledge can then be transformed into action. Because we have made the effort to consider and understand each student we will have a greater chance of responding to them in a helpful and intelligent way. The student senses that they are important and our understanding generates greater compassion within us.The next step is action on our part to communicate to the student that we understand and value them for all that they are.
Many instances come to mind of the benefits of this practice. eg last week on the monday after daylight saving was activated, I noticed a student was very agitated and restless in class. Having observed that this student gets very insecure when there are changes to their routine, I recognised that the sudden time shift was a big contributing factor in his behaviour. I began a discussion about daylight saving and how the time change affects us. All the students welcomed the chance to articulate their feelings of discomfort and the student in question listened with great interest and nodded in agreement. He was relieved and much calmer after the discussion.Without anything directly being said to him, he had been recognised and affirmed, and his restless feelings were alleviated.