The Noble Act of Contrition

I have been substitute teaching in my school district this year and have enjoyed it immensely. I would be hard pressed to say what grade level I enjoy teaching the most. At any age, when I see the light go on in the students' eyes and you know they have just grasped a concept new to them, it makes my heart soar! Of course, there are always those students who, for whatever reason, have difficulty following direction or focusing on their assignments. And there are those students who feel the need to display a negative and nasty attitude to anyone who would try to guide them. Last week, in my 6th-hour Spanish class, the entire class was having difficulty settling down and doing their assignment. There were 30 kids in the class and I counted 12 that were actually following my instructions and doing their work with little distraction. I informed the entire class that I would be leaving a note for their teacher to follow up with them and their lack of self-discipline. For the record, this was the first time I had ever left a note about students misbehaving. After class was over, one young man approached my desk and asked if he was on the list of kids who was not following direction. I checked the list and yes he was on it. He said "OK. I'm sorry for not listening." He had a look of disappointment on his face. It was obvious to me that he was sincere in his apology. I asked him if he would like to talk about his behavior and what he said next just about knocked me out of my seat. This young man was probably 13-14 years old. I have had him in other classes that I substituted in and even though I had to redirect him from time to time, he was never too much of a problem. His response to me was this: "No, It was my choice to keep talking and messing around. I made that decision. I should accept the punishment." I said "I'm impressed that you are taking responsibility and I can see that this has upset you. Tell me, are you upset because you're in trouble or are you upset for some other reason?" "I'm upset because I'm in trouble but I'm more upset because I didn't give you the respect I should have," he said. I don't want to use my blog to talk about politics and the horrible behavior of the candidates but I must say this young man taking ownership of his behavior wasn't learned by following the example of our politicians. It seems more and more common that people refuse to take responsibility for their actions. The parents of this young man should be very proud of the way he handled himself after being told he was in trouble. Of course, it would have been better still if the young man had complied with my instruction and not gotten in trouble in the first place. I took his name off the list and told him I appreciate his taking responsibility for his actions and was impressed that he would bother apologizing to me for the lack of respect he showed me. I also suggested he move to a different location away from the pretty girl he couldn't stop talking to and laughing with. He agreed. "I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice." Abraham Lincoln I'm Dad, and I'm just saying...