Young Mum, @raediancee Who Is Also A Teacher Warms Hearts After She Explained Why She Let A Student Sleep In Class
A young mum and thoughtful educator won the hearts of thousands of Twitter users after she narrated an occurrence that took place in her classroom. @raediancee took to her Twitter share that she let one of her students sleep during class because she figured she must be distressed over something since she never ordinarily sleeps during her classes.
According to @raediancee, the student approached her yesterday and kept thanking her for letting her rest. Turns out the student spent the night in ER with her sick 2-year-old, and now the thoughtful teacher said the moral of her story is for educators to have compassion for their students.
Her post blew up with over 200K likes and over 18K retweets. However, some criticized her for encouraging the student to be lazy. She then went on to narrate her experience growing up and how it’s helped her empathize with her students.
She revealed her family was rendered homeless at a time in her life and this meant she wasn’t getting enough sleep. She said the guidance counselor at her school at the time noticed and would often call her out of class to ‘talk’ but “really, it was her way of just letting me get some rest.” She said.
“…because of her, I was able to still excel academically.”
the mum of twins added.
Grateful for her empathetic guidance counselor’s kindness back then, @raediancee has made it a duty to show compassion in her duties as a teacher and encourages people to pay kindness forward and be compassionate.
Read her full thread below:
I let one of my students sleep yesterday during class. She NEVER sleeps in my class so I figured something was up. This morning she kept thanking me for letting her rest. Turns out her 2 year old was sick and was in the ER all night. Moral: have compassion for your students.
I never expected this tweet to blow up like it did. I often share my teaching experiences & just saw this as another one. However, some of the comments towards this experience are disgusting & I want to address them.
For the people asking, “why doesn’t she go home & sleep in her own bed?” I hope you realize that a afe & adequate housing is not always available to your students. Homelessness doesn’t always have a certain “look.”
When I was in the 7th grade, my family became homeless as a result of the recession. Because of the McKinney Vento Act, I was bussed from over an hour away to a private magnet school. I was homeless, but still academically gifted.
Eventually, we found shelter with a family friend. But, it was my 5 person family (2 adults + 3 kids) living with a 3 person family (2 adults + 1 kid) in a tiny 2 bedroom apartment. I hope you can imagine that the sleep I got was often not very good sleep.
The guidance counselor was aware of my living situation & would often “call me out of class to talk.” Really, it was her way of just letting me get some rest. Because of her, I was able to still excel academically.
I say all of this to say: I never “looked homeless” & many of my teachers never knew I was homeless. Yet, I was. And I was struggling. But because of the compassion of my guidance counselor, I was able to manage my schooling better.
I currently teach women who are: homeless, being abused, preparing to give their child up for adoption, single parenting 6 children under 8 years old, and the list goes on. If I’m not human enough to recognize their individual situations, I shouldn’t be teaching.
I may not can change the situations of many of my students. But I can ensure my classroom is a stable environment where they feel safe. I know where I came from & I care about their holistic wellbeing, not just how well they write an essay. And I’ll never apologize for that.
See the original thread below:
I let one of my students sleep yesterday during class. She NEVER sleeps in my class so I figured something was up. This morning she kept thanking me for letting her rest. Turns out her 2 year old was sick and was in the ER all night. Moral: have compassion for your students.
— Rae ?? (@raediancee) October 24, 2019