EDL 640: Module 7

February 27, 2025

Every day is an opportunity for peace.

Daily Peace Action: Expressing Gratitude

Principle #11 of The Power Paradox says that enduring power comes from expressing gratitude. Something that I used to do regularly is keep a gratitude journal. This was a great way for me to take time each day to reflect on things that are meaningful in my life. I decided this week to pick my gratitude journal back up and set myself up to commit to adding three things each day. 

February 27, 2025 Entry:

• I am grateful for my teaching team. They lift me up and celebrate my ideas. We make a powerful team. 

• I have two wonderful classes of students this year. After two tough years, this year has been exciting. Students are engaged and enjoy the content and format of our classes this year. 

• I am thankful for the opportunity that Hisar has given me in furthering my education. Not only do they support teachers as they move through the SUNY Buffalo State program, but they are constantly reaching out to staff with high quality professional development opportunities. 

Daily Reflection: Relationship-Building Response

The most impactful part of the Day 7 module was looking at relationship-building responses and discussing how to determine what response to use in different situations. I think that relationship-building responses build up healthy, supportive, and respectful relationships with students. These types of responses differ from simply giving academic feedback or trying to give solutions to problems without understanding the underlying issues or needs of the students because the teacher must use active listening, empathy, and compassion when responding to students.

4 Relationship-Building Responses

• Availability - teachers are actively involved in a student's everyday life

• Sensitivity - Perceiving, responding, and staying attuned to how the student feels comfortable communicating

• Acceptance - Embracing students for who they are rather than who a teacher expects them to be; treating students as partners in their social, emotional, and academic development

• Investment - Invest in student success and genuinely celebrate wins; serve as a support so that students know someone believes that they can and will succeed

When comparing the responses to a list of real-life scenarios, it became clear that many students need teachers to be empathetic and to understand that responses to student's needs cannot be one-size-fits-all. Learning more about our students and making clear investments in their well-being makes it easier to assess what responses a student needs at any given time. One of the scenarios where a student starts coming to class late and gives vague answers as to why reminded me of a student from a past school. This particular student was almost always late to class, and always needed a certain amount of time and space to be prepared to participate. When I mentioned this gently during a parent meeting, the mother told me that their family often had volatile mornings and there was almost always bickering between the student and their sibling before school. Knowing this helped me provide a space for the student to have a softer launch to their mornings. It helped them to come in and have a chance to reset on mornings that were particularly hard. It was my hope that the student could come in and have a clean slate when they were ready to start the day.