The Students and Adults We Pass in the Hallways

What's going on everybody? I hope this finds you striving and thriving and doing absolutely amazing. My name is Brian Martin. I'm a second grade teacher and hosted the teaching champions podcast. Now, have you ever watched a video or heard something, and it just made you stop and think I was late in school one evening, and I was prepping my room as we haven't started school yet. And I'm listening to the ED my let show with Susan Cain. And she's a best selling author. And then this interview, she referenced a video that the Cleveland Clinic had created. And they were trying to help create empathy by their staff. And I didn't want to forget about this video. So I stopped what I was doing. And I found the video on my phone. And it was around 10 o'clock at night. Outside of the classroom, the school's hallways were dark, they were silent. And I sat in my room. And I watched this video. And it just really hit home. And it opens up with a quote from Henry David Thoreau that says, Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through the eyes of others, for instance, and it shows a hospital and the camera flashes on all these different individuals. And then a caption goes up next to them saying what is weighing on them. Some of the captions, they're full of energy. As it shows a young man, in his caption said, wife surgery went well. And then it goes to another person and then says, seven years cancer free. But for others, their captions were filled with a lot more worry. An older gentleman, he was being wheeled into the hospital. And his caption read that he had been dreading this appointment. As he was worried that he had waited too long. Another showed a woman and she's walking down the hallway with her child next to her. And up flashed the caption, husband is terminally ill. And next to the child at flashed visiting dad. In this video just shows person after person with each having their own distinct caption. And it's powerful. And I'm going to leave the video link in the show notes. And I just sat there by myself for a minute, lost in my thoughts. Because in another week, that classroom is going to be filled with some pretty special people, the hallways, they're going to be filled with laughter and noise. There's going to be that excitement that's there on the first few days. But this video was a great reminder. The each and every single one of those people have a capture every student, every adult that's in our classrooms that we pass in the hallways has something going on. And often we truly don't know exactly what those captions are for others. So as we embark on another school year, it's a great reminder to show a little compassion, a little empathy, a little understanding for those around us. Because we all carry different things. And is the video close? It flashed some reminders on the screen. Listen to these words. And just think about them for a moment. If you could stand in their shoes, hear what they hear, see what they see, feel what they feel. Would you treat them differently? We're all carrying something on the inside. So let's support Let's encourage. Let's lift each other up today. We've been blessed with another sunrise. Have an awesome day my friends