I've had many thoughts in my head that I want to share over the last month, but I have had no time. It's been a bit crazy, especially since I'm teaching again. Between teaching and taking care of family stuff (quality time, fixing meals, etc.), I really don't do much else. However, I'm waiting for some pictures to load on my computer so that I can finish tomorrow's power point; so while I wait, I want to share about a weird experience over the last 2 days.
I went back to teaching in February. Needless to say it was quite a struggle. The culture of the school is totally different than my own and, on top of that, the teacher I replaced left for negative reasons. Basically, in short, the classes were out of control. I prayed A LOT and I did my best. It was rough, but I made it through the rest of the year. I wasn't sure that I was going back this year, but as the summer progressed, it became clear that I was to return. Most of the time I really feel like I have nothing to offer these teens because their life is so different than mine, so I pray a lot because God can offer them all they need.
We've finished our first 2 days of school and so far it's been fine. I have some really large classes, at least for math and considering the space I have. In my longest class (over 1.5 hours) I have 33 kids. Every chair in my room is occupied and the noise can quickly become intolerable. It is a good lesson for the students to learn that environment dictates behavior in many situations but it also is a challenge to reach every student. So far, they've handled it well. :)
So the thing that has been interesting to me comes from many of my students from last year. I have had a big handful of kids come to say hi to me. They are all so kind and tell me that they missed me over the summer. They even ask me about Uganda.
Yesterday during my lunch time, there was a knock on the door. When I opened it, there was a young man who had been in my most challenging class last year. He was actually one of the few that I had to get the principal involved with. He was just coming by to say hi. He wasn't eating lunch for some reason, so I propped the door open and let him come in. I offered him a snack because I wasn't why he wasn't eating lunch (sometimes they don't have lunch money), but he assured me that he just wasn't hungry. He just sat in the room and chatted with me while I did some simple work at my desk.
Since the door was open, a little bit later I had 4 more visitors. Three of them I actually didn't know; they were just tagging along with a friend. He came in yelling my name and walked right over to my desk to greet me. I thought he would shake my hand, but no, he was coming to give me a hug. Now, I have to tell you about this kid. On my very first day last year, he was the first person I kicked out of my room because he was cussing me out before the bell even rang. I literally kicked him out of class in less than 2 minutes of meeting him. Needless to say, it was a rough start, but the next class period I took a few minutes to talk to him. We agreed that it was a misunderstanding and that we'd just forget it ever happened and start over. Come to find out, he's one of those kids that is always getting in trouble. I still had to remind him about his language many times, but he didn't really cause me any more problems. When he came in to visit me, it was almost surreal. He was standing there telling his friends about how "cool" I am. Isn't that the funniest thing. I even looked at this friend and said, "____was the first person to cuss me out at this school." He made a sort of sheepish grin and we had a little laugh about it. Again today I saw him a few times and he always says hello and I say "good morning (or whatever), make good choices today." As a side note, while I was on hall duty, one of the friends that had come with him yesterday was walking from one place to another. I said, "do you guys know where you're going?" (it's a very large school and many kids get lost for the first few days). Of course, they told me they did and then he said, "I had lunch with you yesterday." Then as he walked away he was discussing with his friend about coming to my room. It was really amusing because it didn't seem like such a big deal to me.
Today, I was in my classroom getting the power point ready as my students were coming into class. Suddenly, we can here someone yelling, "Mrs. Stanley" over and over again all the way down the hall. Of course, I recognized the voice as one of my girls from last year. I was answering but she just kept yelling my name until she got to the room, then she gave me a big hug and said, "can I just stay in your room." We had a little discussion and I encouraged her to head to her class before the bell. As she left, one of my new students said, "wow, she must really love you." It was very sweet.
And finally, I'll just share one more story. Last night, after the first day, I told Floyd that I had one particular student that I was worried about. I wasn't sure if I would struggle with her because she seemed to have a chip on her shoulder. I know that sounds bad, but it really was as if she was mad at me before she even came into class. Well, today, she took her assigned seat with a little bit of complaining, and we got to work. By the end of class, she said, "Ms., you're my favorite teacher already." Of course I made an odd face because I wasn't sure how that could be. So she said, "what, you don't want to be my favorite teacher. Fine." I said, "it's not that, I just don't see how you could reach that conclusion already." She proceeded to give me a few reasons but I don't even remember what they were. I just thought it was funny and a bit ironic. I'm still pretty sure we're going to have a few times where we but heads because she's a strong minded young lady, but I think we'll be alright.
Overall, I just feel like God has reminded me that I may not have anything else to offer these young people, but I can offer them love and care. I can treat them with respect and demonstrate how to accept people who are different, how to love others without judging them, and I can show them that I do expect great things from them, even if they don't expect it from themselves. I can do all of these things because I have the grace of God and because each one of them is a child of God, created to do good things, created with a specific purpose, created intentionally by the One who matters most. If He loves them that much, how could I not love them as well?
I went back to teaching in February. Needless to say it was quite a struggle. The culture of the school is totally different than my own and, on top of that, the teacher I replaced left for negative reasons. Basically, in short, the classes were out of control. I prayed A LOT and I did my best. It was rough, but I made it through the rest of the year. I wasn't sure that I was going back this year, but as the summer progressed, it became clear that I was to return. Most of the time I really feel like I have nothing to offer these teens because their life is so different than mine, so I pray a lot because God can offer them all they need.
We've finished our first 2 days of school and so far it's been fine. I have some really large classes, at least for math and considering the space I have. In my longest class (over 1.5 hours) I have 33 kids. Every chair in my room is occupied and the noise can quickly become intolerable. It is a good lesson for the students to learn that environment dictates behavior in many situations but it also is a challenge to reach every student. So far, they've handled it well. :)
So the thing that has been interesting to me comes from many of my students from last year. I have had a big handful of kids come to say hi to me. They are all so kind and tell me that they missed me over the summer. They even ask me about Uganda.
Yesterday during my lunch time, there was a knock on the door. When I opened it, there was a young man who had been in my most challenging class last year. He was actually one of the few that I had to get the principal involved with. He was just coming by to say hi. He wasn't eating lunch for some reason, so I propped the door open and let him come in. I offered him a snack because I wasn't why he wasn't eating lunch (sometimes they don't have lunch money), but he assured me that he just wasn't hungry. He just sat in the room and chatted with me while I did some simple work at my desk.
Since the door was open, a little bit later I had 4 more visitors. Three of them I actually didn't know; they were just tagging along with a friend. He came in yelling my name and walked right over to my desk to greet me. I thought he would shake my hand, but no, he was coming to give me a hug. Now, I have to tell you about this kid. On my very first day last year, he was the first person I kicked out of my room because he was cussing me out before the bell even rang. I literally kicked him out of class in less than 2 minutes of meeting him. Needless to say, it was a rough start, but the next class period I took a few minutes to talk to him. We agreed that it was a misunderstanding and that we'd just forget it ever happened and start over. Come to find out, he's one of those kids that is always getting in trouble. I still had to remind him about his language many times, but he didn't really cause me any more problems. When he came in to visit me, it was almost surreal. He was standing there telling his friends about how "cool" I am. Isn't that the funniest thing. I even looked at this friend and said, "____was the first person to cuss me out at this school." He made a sort of sheepish grin and we had a little laugh about it. Again today I saw him a few times and he always says hello and I say "good morning (or whatever), make good choices today." As a side note, while I was on hall duty, one of the friends that had come with him yesterday was walking from one place to another. I said, "do you guys know where you're going?" (it's a very large school and many kids get lost for the first few days). Of course, they told me they did and then he said, "I had lunch with you yesterday." Then as he walked away he was discussing with his friend about coming to my room. It was really amusing because it didn't seem like such a big deal to me.
Today, I was in my classroom getting the power point ready as my students were coming into class. Suddenly, we can here someone yelling, "Mrs. Stanley" over and over again all the way down the hall. Of course, I recognized the voice as one of my girls from last year. I was answering but she just kept yelling my name until she got to the room, then she gave me a big hug and said, "can I just stay in your room." We had a little discussion and I encouraged her to head to her class before the bell. As she left, one of my new students said, "wow, she must really love you." It was very sweet.
And finally, I'll just share one more story. Last night, after the first day, I told Floyd that I had one particular student that I was worried about. I wasn't sure if I would struggle with her because she seemed to have a chip on her shoulder. I know that sounds bad, but it really was as if she was mad at me before she even came into class. Well, today, she took her assigned seat with a little bit of complaining, and we got to work. By the end of class, she said, "Ms., you're my favorite teacher already." Of course I made an odd face because I wasn't sure how that could be. So she said, "what, you don't want to be my favorite teacher. Fine." I said, "it's not that, I just don't see how you could reach that conclusion already." She proceeded to give me a few reasons but I don't even remember what they were. I just thought it was funny and a bit ironic. I'm still pretty sure we're going to have a few times where we but heads because she's a strong minded young lady, but I think we'll be alright.
Overall, I just feel like God has reminded me that I may not have anything else to offer these young people, but I can offer them love and care. I can treat them with respect and demonstrate how to accept people who are different, how to love others without judging them, and I can show them that I do expect great things from them, even if they don't expect it from themselves. I can do all of these things because I have the grace of God and because each one of them is a child of God, created to do good things, created with a specific purpose, created intentionally by the One who matters most. If He loves them that much, how could I not love them as well?
Comments
Post a Comment