Judging Others

In A Book's Cover from Sioux's Page, Sioux asks,

“ How about you? What would be emblazoned across your book cover if you had one? Or, can you tell about one instance where you made a snap-judgment about someone, and you were wrong? Envious minds (I've got book envy) want to know...”

First of all, I have to confess that I am really bad about judging a book by its cover. I don’t mean to be and I know I shouldn’t but sometimes I can’t seem to help myself. I don’t always think negative thoughts about a book from its cover but I do look more positive on a book with an interesting cover. A great cover draws me in and makes me want to read the book. Sometimes I get disappointed when I read the story and don’t think it really matches the image on the cover. I feel like I was cheated. Sometimes I read a book with a boring cover and can imagine all different covers that should go on the book.

I wonder if I do the same thing with students. I know that I shouldn’t and I don’t mean to but it just happens. When I see a student dressed sloppily or has little respect for themselves, I tend to think that they probably feel the same way about school and their grades. If I see a student dressed nicely and with care, I think they have caring parents who insist that they dress appropriately. Imagine how surprised I am when I find out that I am completely wrong. The first student ends up working harder than the second and really wants to succeed. The second student doesn’t care about anything except making great first impressions.

Seeing the students on the outside doesn’t really show me what is on the inside. How much are they willing to work towards success? How much support do they have at home? How much do they respect others or themselves? How do they feel about their lives?

Sometimes what I see may not be the true face that my students have. It is what they want the world to see. Sometimes I have to push my assumptions and judgments aside so that I can dig deeper and find out who my students truly are.

Do you judge a book by its cover? How do you stop doing this? Please share.