My soft spot for troublemakers, a comment that became a post.

This post started out as a comment on this great entry: Convincing a principal of a boy's giftedness was fruitless by @angiemitchell. I felt it was getting a bit longer than the average reply, so I decided to post it separately. I believe this is a very important topic, that we should keep addressing.

I've always have this "soft spot" with the «troublemakers». I know, I just used that word, but the truth is I hate labeling, especially kids, so early in life.

I remember one of my first experiences, as a substitute music teacher at a public school. One of the teachers was introducing me to the 1st grade classroom, and I remember her telling me "those two back there.... don't even bother, they are a lost cause". She said it out loud, for the whole class to hear. And I was shocked! I mean, how can she declare "lost cause"on a couple of first graders? They are still babies for that matter! And why on earth is she saying it in front of them? I decided to reply something like this "Oh, l don't know them yet, just let me find out myself".

From that moment on, I don't trust anyone's opinion about anyone else, you know, when friends tell you at college "oh, I didn't like that professor, don't take his class", or "my son did good with this teacher, you should try to take your son with her", or "that dentist is so kind". Most of the times I wont let spoilers go ahead. But if I can't stop them soon enough, I just choose not to listen to what they have to say.
I believe teachers are not supposed to label kids. If anything we should unlabel them and teach them they can become the best version of themselves. When a kid shows a «naughty» behavior, all I see is a child in need. I imagine them feeling hopeless, unable to analyze their situation, acting in radical ways, to try to find some sense, or at least some help. Something must be happening inside those little hearts & minds (or homes) that I am not aware of, and therefore, I cannot understand. They are not adults. Yes they disturb our classroom's peace, but they are there to be guided, since they aren't final products for us to judge/hate. They are working projects for us to help building.

But not all teachers are aware of their guidance responsibility. @angiemitchell's article shows that a kid can go through 6 grades both labeled and unreferred for guidance assessment, and even then, a principal might ignore the professional advice. So sometimes teachers are the lost causes. But there is hope. I think true teachers outnumber bad ones. And many of them are here, reading this and trying to write their own experiences to make a difference. We have our failures, but we keep fighting the everyday battles.

One thing I do to help these kids, is finding one skill, one aspect of their process they are good at, (at least one) and I encourage it, I highlight it in front of the class, I tell the parents, for them to be proud. It immediately changes the perception and the kid is now seen through much kinder eyes, by the parents, classmates, other teachers...even themselves. The teacher is now seen as an ally, so the kid doesn't need to antagonize, they don't feel attacked, therefore, they don't need to be defensive or aggressive (and this goes for everyone implied).

@empathetic