Angela Maiers has written a great post about the power our language has as teachers. She talks particularly about using the phrase “I notice…” with students. I would very strongly recommend you read her entire post, titled “Two Powerful Words: I Notice.”

One quote she includes is something said by Susan Sarandon in the movie “How We Dance”:

“We need a witness to our lives. There’s a billion people on the planet… I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you’re promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things… all of it, all of the time, every day. You’re saying ‘Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness’.”