Labels....

I received a bit of advice early in my career that warned against, “letting one event from your life become your label.”  This was such an important statement because we discuss labels so much as educators.  We say that children are “talkative, shy, loving, sweet, sullen, interesting, or hard to read”.  The list does not stop there, it continues.  These are all labels whether we would like to believe it or not.  Many times students overhear our label and that becomes their stamp or thought of themselves as well.

It’s incredibly difficult to shake off someone’s perception of us, but it’s not impossible.  If the label is positive, then we work really hard to maintain the label; however, if the label is one that is not encouraging, we are constantly trying to reframe ourselves in the eyes of the other person.   

Our students do this daily and as they enter our hearts, so do their labels. As we get to know our students better, are we able to change our perceptions of them?