One of my biggest takeaways from this course was that many people do not know how to apologize. In the classroom apologizing is so incredibly important, whether it is student to student, or teacher to student. Often times when students are acting out it is because of a deeper issue. Students are sent out of the classroom to deescalate. A part that many miss is the reentry. This begins with apologizing so that the student can feel comfortable reentering the classroom. Otherwise, that student is just going to feel triggered by the trauma of being sent out of the classroom. When apologizing, the student AND teacher should acknowledge the harmful actions and should be sure to state how they will do better moving forward. Much more powerful than the classic “I’m Sorry” and “It’s okay”. It creates a positive classroom culture.
