Professional Ponderings

I admit it. I am a Type A. Yes I know many of you reading this will be shocked to hear my confession, however, believe it or not, I used to be much worse. I was a student like Lowell Madden describes in his article Do Teachers Communicate with Their Students As If They Were Dogs?, always seeking praise.

I still remember when my Undergraduate adviser and law professor told me that she was disappointed in me when I turned in an assignment late. Though I held back my tears during our discussion I bawled on the phone to my now husband (who definitely was not a student who sought his self-worth from classroom praise) after leaving class. “She is disappointed in me!” I cried. But through our discussion I realized that in-order for someone to be disappointed in you they have to have high expectations of you. Although I left the lucrative path of Internet and First Amendment Law and settled on the less glamorous road of middle school teacher, this moment forever stays with me.

I disagree with Madden when he states that students who seek teacher praise do so for selfish reasons. I did so because I am a Type A personality and I wanted to please the teacher and be the best so that the rest of my class or group could be the best. Although you can not squash the A personality I do believe that Madden has a point when he says to use statements of encouragement instead of statements of praise. If we do this as teachers we might just save the A’s from staying up to 3am fretting over the placement of a comma.

Don’t worry, my self-worth does not lie (solely) in my grades but primarily in the hugs and smiles from my daughter.