The Teacher

I have come to a frightening conclusion.
I am the decisive element in the classroom.
It is my personal aprroach that creates the climate.
It is my daily mood that creates the weather.
As a teacher, I possess tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous.
I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.
I can humiliate or humour, hurt or heal.
In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated,
a child humanized or de-humanized.

Ginott, 1972-Teacher & Child. New York, Macmillan