- Be flexible with your expectations, so that students can try as many activities as interest them.
- Offer retakes on all tests and quizzes. “If they haven’t learned, you haven’t taught,” so let them keep proving that they’ve learned, as many times as they care to.
- Help them get back up when they fall. If we want our students to take risks, they will fall. If we don’t help them back up, we have told them “I want you to stay standing, not take risks,” in so many words – and they will learn that message.
- Be clear, open, and regular in communications. I write and say more than I need to, I repeat myself, I communicate things in multiple ways. I make myself available before and after rehearsal, and I advertise that fact.
- (Surely it should go without saying) Never, ever, ever berate, belittle or humiliate a student. Never, ever, ever let them see you berating, belittling, or humiliating another student. This behavior is the opposite of showing grace, and it does lasting damage to the students you are trying to lift up.
There are dozens more. How do you show grace for your students?