Microaggression and Being Aware of It

This past school year was very interesting for me because I had an assistant that was very difficult to work with because she wanted do things a certain way and I wanted to do things a certain way.  At one point during the year, it got to the point to where she did not want to help me do anything to discipline the children anymore in the classroom.  For instance, there were times that I felt my assistant did not get the full story on what was going on with the child and would punish the child before there was any reasoning behind the actions of the child.   It was for little things like the child needing to get a tissue when they are in line.  However, I am saying that I don’t agree with letting the child just get away with anything, but there is a point where you have to listen to a child and understand where he or she is coming from.  Especially, since there are circumstances that children come from that need to be address.

At one point this year, my assistant decided to explain in front of the children everything she thought I was doing wrong.  First of all, I found that being a microaggression because she made me feel like I was not doing anything right.  Now, I felt she could have talked about this situation with me during a time when the children were not in the classroom, but I understand that sometimes my assistant could be very direct and to the point without realizing she was doing so at an inappropriate time.  I know this is a silly microaggression  but it did hurt what I was trying to do with the children at the time,  because she took the focus off my lesson.