Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Poor and Innocent I made one of the biggest mistakes in my professional life as a teacher about a week ago. I teach middle school English. We collected money for a breast cancer awareness event, and I put the cash and the checks in separate envelopes. After lunch time, I could not locate the envelope with the cash. I looked everywhere, but I could not find it. I asked my students if anyone took the envelope by mistake but nobody came forward. So, the cash was lost. Apparently, someone stole it, I thought. I have a good mix of students in my classroom; different religions, races, cultures, and rich and poor. Steve is the poorest student. Sometimes students make fun of Steve for wearing the same pair of shoes or the same pants all the time. The day after the money had been lost Steve came to school wearing a new jacket. Automatically, everyone, including me, started thinking he stole the cash. I took Steve to the principal's office to have a conference with him about the lost cash and his new jacket. We told him why we were having the meeting and asked him to be truthful. He said he had nothing to do with the lost cash. When we asked him about the new jacket, he said he had worked in his uncle's mechanic shop past weekend and made some money. Then, his father gave him some money to make up the difference for him to buy the jacket. We called his father and he confirmed everything Steve had told us. At that moment I thought I had never been so embarrassed in my life. But the more embarrassing moment came when Steve asked me if I had questioned Greg, a student from a middle class background, because he happened to come to school wearing a new jacket that day also. How can I fix the broken trust between me and Steve? How would you react to this situation—lost money and a poor student wearing a new jacket the next day? What would be the most appropriate way to respond to this situation? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) I think every teacher has a time when he or she has misjudged a student. Like others responding to the case, I am not sure that the relationship can go back to the way that it was before the accusation, but it can be repaired to some extent. Students need to see adults make mistakes and then observe how those same adults respond to the mistakes. I think the first thing that you have to do is offer a humble and heartfelt apology to both the student and the parents. Students really do know if you are genuine or not. be honest. Be real. They know if you mean it or not. I also think that it is a good idea to look into Steve's observation about Greg. I certainly would not give up on trying to find the lost money until I explored every possible lead. The whole situation will one day make a great illustration for not judging a book by the cover, but until enough time has passed you will need to do what you feel is right to repair the breach between you and Steve.