Compassion

When I first looked at the topic for the week I immediately thought of Jonah: A Veggietales Movie. For those unfamiliar to it, it is a really cute (in my opinion) animated movie about the Biblical story of Jonah. Towards the end of the movie the characters talk about how God was compassionate towards Jonah by giving him a second chance even though he didn't deserve one. Dictionary.com added to my idea of compassion by saying it is "a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering."

My third grade teacher was far from compassionate. At least, that's the image of her I still carry with me. The incident I remember most vividly from my third grade year was when I broke my arm. During recess I had let someone use my sled and somehow by the time the bell rang to go inside it was still at the bottom of the hill. In a hurry, I decided to run down the icy hill after my sled. Don't ask me why I didn't just slide down on my butt; I guess I wasn't smart enough to realize that would have been much safer. I'm sure you can see what's coming. I slipped and fell, but lucky for me my puny wrist caught my fall. I remember immediately crying and trying to find help. A classmate found an aid who took me to the office to get some ice for it. When I went back to my classroom we were handing out Friday Folder things and I was still in pain. I was still crying a little bit from it, but then my teacher basically told me to shut up and get over it. Fortunately, soothing my bitterness, I came back on Monday with a bright pink cast to rub in her face.

Although a specific time when a teacher showed great compassion doesn't come to mind, I definitely remember my teachers who showed compassion in higher regards than those who I feel did not. This goes to show that a negative experience can stick with one more vividly than perhaps several positive ones. This makes me realize I must be very careful when dealing with kids and always try to show compassion towards them. However, this does not mean that as a teacher one should always feel sorry for kids or let them get away with things, but it does mean as a teacher one should always be willing to listen and take time to form a rational response.