All-Purpose Apology Templates

By Terri Mauro, About.com Guide

So you just wanted to get a student to stop talking or stop misbehaving or stop, you know, being disabled, and maybe you stepped over a line and went from authority figure to bully. It happens, right? Everybody has bad days, everybody snaps sometimes, you're only human. But now, somehow, the child's parents have found out about it and are calling for your job and maybe your head. Perhaps you're ready to do some soul-searching and realize you didn't go into teaching to behave this way, or perhaps you just want people to stop calling you a monster on the Internet. Either way, it's time to apologize. If that's not the sort of thing you've been trained for, here's an easy apology template that offers you three options: one that's heartfelt or at least looks that way, one that maintains your professional distance, and one that at least has the virtue of being true. Make your choices, own your actions, and move on to the next classroom crisis.

My Public Apology
(Pick one from each group of choices)

I have recently been notified by

• my principal
• my school-district attorney
• reporters who saw your online petition, Facebook campaign, and viral video

that certain actions of mine

• have been considered abusive.
• have been taken completely out of context.
• have become way more public than I intended.

It was certainly not my intent to

• injure or abuse your child.
• create an incident that attracts negative attention to myself and my school.
• get caught.

Because I am

• someone who cares about kids,
• a trained professional,
• a person with about as much patience for this nonsense as I have for the kids in my class,

I deeply regret

• having done anything to harm a child.
• making a mistake, though a perfectly understandable one.
• not being a little more sneaky.

I acknowledge that

• my behavior was hurtful and regrettable.
• my actions look really, really bad.
• I didn’t understand what a pain in my behind parents would be about this.

I take

• full responsibility for my actions,
• refuge behind my school's policies and procedures,
• a good look through backpacks now for hidden recorders, cameras, and incriminating evidence, thanks,

and I give you my word that, in the future, I will

• be more careful with the precious gift of your child.
• call in an administrator to handle your out-of-control kid.
• only mess with kids whose parents don't have blogs.

I hope you can

• find it in your heart to forgive me.
• let me keep my job.
• go away now.

And now, just so this doesn't happen again? Check out some books on classroom behavior management that might help you do this job you've been entrusted with: The Behavior Code | The Inner Wealth Initiative | The Teacher's Guide to Inclusive Education | Beyond Behavior Management | The Paraprofessional's Handbook for Effective Support in Inclusive Classrooms.

Previous

• Celebrity Apology Template for Offensive Disability-Related Comments
• Teacher Apology Template for Outrageous Classroom Mistreatment
• IEP Team Member Apology Template for Not Knowing It All After All
• Family Member Apology Template for Cruel and Clueless Conversation

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