14748689293

Next February, this blog will be celebrating its ten-year anniversary! Leading up to it, I’m re-starting a series I tried to do in the past called “A Look Back.” Each week, I’ll be re-posting a few of my favorite posts from the past ten years.

You might also be interested in:

 A Look Back: Best Posts From 2007 To 2009 

 A Look Back: 2010’s Best Posts From This Blog

A Look Back: 2011’s Best Posts From This Blog

A Look Back: 2012’s Best Posts From This Blog

A Look Back: 2013’s Best Posts From This Blog

I originally published this post in 2014.

I’ve written a lot about the importance of teachers being able to apologize to students when we mess-up (see The Best Resources On The Importance Of Saying “I’m Sorry”).

Here’s another reason why it’s important. It’s — more or less — a transcript of a story that my colleague and co-author Katie Hull had this morning:

I want to tell you about something that Joan (a student that we have in common — not her real name) told me yesterday. She came to me and said “You and Mr. Ferlazzo write books together, right?”

I told her, “Yes.”

She said, “It’s about how to be a good teacher, right?”

I told that it was, more or less.

Joan then said, “I can tell – you both teach the same way. If Mr. Ferlazzo gets upset at the wrong student for talking, he apologizes. You do, too. Most teachers never say they’re sorry about anything!”