This topic is one of my pet peeves - as i personally feel that I am judged inaccurately because of my accent. As a result of my personal experience I try not to judge people before I have an opportunity to know them or form an opinion of them.
It is very important fro me not to prejudge my students because this will put them an an unfair advantage. However,I can be very rigid sometimes and I am working on dealing with my students in a not so rigid manner. As we learned in NTI I have to remember that the student mind i not yet developed and they may not be responsible for some of the decisions they make, so I cut them some slack but still hold them accountable for any unprofessional behavior/attitudes.
In the past if I feel that someone has made an inaccurate judgment about me I go to them and bring up the subject and discuss same if the other person is receptive to the discussion. This has worked for me sometimes, maybe you can try it sometime.
Hi, Bridgette - very insightful post, and you are dealing with a difficult teacher issue - separating student behavior from the student. It is not the student per se that you are dealing with, but rather their behavior issues, and once you realize that, it becomes somewhat easier to deal with the student and not personalize them in your reactions, but rather focus on the behavior that you are trying to change. Tough concept to internalize - keep on trying!
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