Thank you

Today a student was struggling to put his answer on paper. He knew the answer. I knew that he knew it. He knew that he knew it. But he just could not commit to it enough to write it, even in pencil, on his paper. I knew that he wanted to write it and move on; he just needed that extra push.

My natural inclination:  "You have ten seconds to write an answer down on your paper."

You taught me that my natural inclination can be bossy and off-putting.

Thanks to you, I paused before speaking. "You have the answer inside of you. I can tell. Why don't you write down your best guess?"

A softer touch was what he needed.