Day 4 - Intentional Goodness in the Classroom

On Holy Wednesday, we are drawn to the way Jesus treats others. If there was ever anyone who could teach us good manners or how to interact with others, Jesus led the way. Do your students have good manners? Is it our place to teach them how to interact with others?  Manners needs to be taught at home, but as we are increasingly noticing the lack of respect, it a necessity to be a model of good manners ourselves to impact our students. They may not remember everything we have taught them, but they will remember how we treated them.

A verse to ponder

Ps. 118:24

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

An intentional blessing for the classroom  

How can you teach good manners in the classroom? Be a model! Go out of your way to address your students by their name, listen carefully to what they have to say and don’t interrupt them when they are speaking. Use lots of please and thank yous everyday and and let them go first when entering or exiting the classroom. An emphasis on good manners by doing is a far greater lesson than talking about manners. May our good manners be a reflection for our students.

A focus of reflection

Is it legal to teach good manners? Of course! None of us are hired to teach manners, but all of us are hired to understand professional ethics. Doing the right thing all the time and treating others as we would like to be treated is an expectation of all teachers. How are your manners? Do they promote a sense of intentional goodness in your classroom? We can always use a little brush-up course. May God give you the wisdom and ability to treat your students with dignity.

Day 5

(What kind of Bright Ideas will your students come up with?)

As always, I am
Prayerfully dependent,

K

Karen C. Seddon
CEAI, State Director, Florida
kseddon@ceai.org