Teaching To Go

“A fight is going on inside me,“ said an old man to his son. "It is a terrible fight between two wolves. One wolf is evil. He is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other wolf is good. He is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. The same fight is going on inside you.” The son thought about it for a minute and then asked, “Which wolf will win?” The old man replied simply, “The one you feed.” #generosity #growth #strategy http://bit.ly/1QaxDqh

A student was sitting outside waiting for me to arrive today.  He is always the earliest one, yet he walks to school, so he is not being delivered by the convenience of his parents. I don’t know, but I like to think that my opening the classroom early is a sanctuary for him. A safe place to be, a calm place to go, etc.  I am doing something good.  I spent all night working on a unit test that went over into lunch period for my ESL student. It probably was too hard… but I challenged and humbled my most academically inclined students. They walked out JUST on time, and I’m sure they checked their notes after the test to make sure they knew the answers.  I stayed the entirety of lunch hour to help another student on a make-up quiz.   Yes – I also spent a day creating an alternative quiz for my students who nearly passed. I also corrected their first attempt with such detail to show them exactly which objectives they need to work on and study before I let them take the second quiz.  I told them they don’t start until they think they’re ready, and I answered as many questions as I could.  At the end, the student who stayed all the way through lunch and into his after-lunch class, he thanked me.  Where I was feeling bad for taking his free time, he told me what it meant to him to have the chance to try again.     The other students who stayed a little into lunch/re-wrote their quiz today, they didn’t have to say thank you. Though it felt good to hear a student recognize what I’d done, part of my job is knowing that I did a good thing for them even if they don’t know it themselves.  Those students were not left with a failing grade because I don’t think they’re failures, I know that the material is hard but I know that they can get it.  One student seemed discouraged, but he told me when he handed it in “I think I did better this time”.  Well, if not, he will do it again until he does, because he can.  I know my hard work sets an example for their hard work. I know my hard work shows them what is important: not the number, but that they improve; that they can do it; that I will not give up on them.  I only had to nag my class once to walk in a straight line to the pool today.  All of those times sternly repeating myself has paid off. They don’t want to hear me say it, either. And they looked damn good…. I just couldn’t tell them that, because I expect it of them.  I had an impromptu meeting after school to watch and critique a student project for a national internet and child abuse seminar. They did an incredible job on the video production.  Furthermore, I saw one student so dedicated to this project that he was also at school until 7pm.    While I was at this meeting, I missed helping a student to understand Science… but I came back to a little note on my whiteboard that another classmate had helped her. I’m so happy because it means they both will learn better! There were more wonderful things about my day, but it is now 9pm; my perpetual bed time for a 4am fresh start.   I had almonds, cranberries and a whole bag of smarties chocolates for dinner. I haven’t done dishes, and I have 2 minute cold showers because it takes too long to wait for water to get warm (and who has time for that?).  My personal care is low, and there are a lot of teaching things I would like to be better at…. but I’m not ready to quit. I won’t quit because I can find all of the great things I have accomplished are still worth the battle forward.    So I will keep writing with green and red whiteboard markers (a student noticed for the first time today), and I will keep changing the countdown to Christmas, and I will keep making games.  3 more weeks!