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181. Why Switch from Participles to Verbs

Posted on June 15, 2022June 15, 2022 by caritagardiner
tired Tuukka

Sometimes, dealing with things is exhausting. Just ask Tuukka, who regularly takes breaks while we walk. Maybe he gets bored of travelling the same routes every day. One thing I've found exhausting recently is the number of times I've heard people at my school talk about how every student should feel "safe, seen, and supported." I'm not against the idea, but I don't think we should phrase it that way.

If kids know that they're supposed to feel safe, seen, and supported, they can focus entirely on themselves. Teachers and proctors and other people should look out for them. By using those three participles, we encourage them into a state of being looked out for.

If we switched the phrase to use verbs, we'd switch from asking students to be to asking them instead to do. I would suggest that everyone here learn to "protect, see, and support." We should all be trying to do these things for others. We should notice those who don't feel completely at ease here and work to understand and uplift them.

By moving the focus from participles (states of being) to verbs (actions for doing), we create both the initial goal of having people feel at ease here and we create better people, who will spend their lives looking out for others. As a bonus, it's pretty well established that a great way to feel better is to do substantive things for others. Instead of passively waiting for others to buoy us up from our depths, we would have a way to bring others up with us.

Can you think of other sayings that would work better as verbs than as participles? If so, I'd love for you to share your ideas in the comments. (All other comments welcome, too.)

WHAT I DO

I teach English to high schoolers at a boarding school in Connecticut. I read AP English Literature and Composition exams and serve as a teacher mentor for the University of Pennsylvania Teaching Fellows program. I’ve earned a Bachelor of Arts (Amherst College), an Education Master in Learning and Teaching (Harvard University Graduate School of Education), a Master of Arts in English (Bread Loaf School of English), and most recently a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a certificate in the online teaching of writing (Southern New Hampshire University).

As a writer, I hope to capture the complexity and joy of life in the New England boarding school world. On this site, I share what I know about trying to write fiction while teaching English, coaching, and doing the other tasks associated with helping to raise over six hundred other people’s children.

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Read my recent “Why” Wednesday Blog Posts

  • 183. Why Embrace Dead Ends
  • 182. Why Be Authentic (a guest post)
  • 181. Why Switch from Participles to Verbs
  • 180. Why Be Vulnerable
  • 179. Why You Did Have a Chance
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