respeto

This is exactly why I allow nothing less than respect in my class.  One of the first words my students learned from me (and probably the one they know best even now) was respeto, and they know it's not just for me.  I require them to listen to each other speak, to not laugh if someone answers incorrectly, and to respect each others' - and their own - artwork even if it's silly. One of the first lessons a second grade class learned from me is that words are important.  A boy teased another boy, who started crying, and the first boy said, "They're just words.  Words don't matter."  We stopped the entire lesson until everyone in that class knew that words do matter, and when you say something that can hurt someone's feelings, you make it better.  Because no one deserves to grow up feeling like they're not safe at school.  Everyone deserves to grow up knowing they have friends in their classroom.  Thankfully, I teach at a school where people are pretty nice.  I've been really impressed with my students.  Almost every classroom feels like a tight group of friends, as well it should.  I don't see them on the playground, so things could be different than they seem, but I'm thankful that they have learned to support each other, at least in the classroom.  Mistakes are made there all the time - it's a good place to learn respect.

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"He was standing erect on the rock again, with that smile on his face and a drum beating within him.  It was saying, 'To die will be an awfully big adventure.'"  - J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan