Alfie Kohn deconstructs and destroys teacher statements with this list of well-thought out hypothetical comebacks…

Corridor Wit: “Did you bring enough for everyone?

Wait, are you saying that if I walked in here with a giant bag of candy or gum, you’d be OK with my passing it around to all the other kids?  Come to think of it, are you going to start applying this principle to yourself:  “No coffee for me unless I buy enough for the entire faculty”? ”

I’m guilty of a few of these over the years as a middle school teacher, but working on cutting out these types of “go-to” remarks as I continually work to improve my craft.