Throughout my long days among hundreds of teen-agers, I am exposed to a vast array of comments; many I wish I never heard/read, some pass through one ear and out the other, and very rarely there are some that actually cause me to pause and reflect. I recently had an experience with of few in the latter category.
For some reason that I haven't quite figured out, in my last 2 classes of the day I have a few students who want nothing more than to sit at my desk. They do their work, participate in discussions, and volunteer to click the mouse while I'm instructing. I have no idea what the fascination is (besides the obvious comfy office chair that beats a hard desk/chair combo any day), but for some reason, they really enjoy sitting at my desk.
In my last class, there is one girl in particular who wants to straighten out my desk and organize everything while she sits there. Often times, after I greet her, I say, "don't organize my desk," because I know that's the first thing she'll do. She doesn't realize that each of those stacks of papers and random supplies are in their exact place because the bell rang right in the middle of a task that I wasn't finished with and my brain knows exactly where everything is. When she "organizes" it, my poor brain will have no idea how to restart that uncompleted task. :)
From time to time she has left me little notes on my desk or dry-erase board. Usually these notes are just sweet comments, like, "Love you, Mrs. Stanley" or "_______ was here" and once or twice it was a quote or offer of advice about keeping an organized desk. :) She recently left me with some specific notes that captured my attention completely. I think these little notes speak for themselves.
As far as the time goes, I asked her what led to those calculations because I was curious. What made her decide to count up the hours or minutes. She said that she just saw it on the internet and it stuck in her mind and she just likes leaving me notes. I didn't ask her about the third one because it didn't come up. I saw the note after she had left that day, and, to be honest, we don't have a ton of time for chatting in an Algebra I classroom with 29 freshmen.
Besides, there isn't a lot of discussion to be had. The quote speaks for itself. In a way, I feel like these little notes spoke to me, each one at a time when I needed to hear that exact message. This school year has been a hard one and many days I just want it to be over. I remind myself that God has me there for a purpose and I'm supposed to live in the now, not wait for the future. My students (all 126 of them) are interesting and unique individuals created by God with a purpose. There are plenty of moments when I pray to just see them as God does because I really just want to scream at them or sit down and cry. Sometimes a math classroom can be a difficult place because most of the people in the room would rather be anywhere else, but I enjoy the light bulb moments; the glimpses into the lives of so many unique teens; and the occasional glimpses into what they're really thinking.
These little notes were encouraging and got my attention for reasons that had nothing to do with this student; but they also gave a little glimpse into what she had on her mind, which offers a little hope for the future generations (to be honest, at the end of many hard days, hope for future generations can be a hard thing to come by).
So, I've left these little notes out in plain sight and they've actually caught the eye of a few other students. They are just a little reminder that God has given us a set amount of time to impact His children, and we must be willing to take action, not just take notice. :)
For some reason that I haven't quite figured out, in my last 2 classes of the day I have a few students who want nothing more than to sit at my desk. They do their work, participate in discussions, and volunteer to click the mouse while I'm instructing. I have no idea what the fascination is (besides the obvious comfy office chair that beats a hard desk/chair combo any day), but for some reason, they really enjoy sitting at my desk.
In my last class, there is one girl in particular who wants to straighten out my desk and organize everything while she sits there. Often times, after I greet her, I say, "don't organize my desk," because I know that's the first thing she'll do. She doesn't realize that each of those stacks of papers and random supplies are in their exact place because the bell rang right in the middle of a task that I wasn't finished with and my brain knows exactly where everything is. When she "organizes" it, my poor brain will have no idea how to restart that uncompleted task. :)
From time to time she has left me little notes on my desk or dry-erase board. Usually these notes are just sweet comments, like, "Love you, Mrs. Stanley" or "_______ was here" and once or twice it was a quote or offer of advice about keeping an organized desk. :) She recently left me with some specific notes that captured my attention completely. I think these little notes speak for themselves.
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| This was the first one, just written on a post-it note and stuck on my monitor. |
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| And the second note, in case an hour seems too long... |
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| And the third note that got my attention... |
As far as the time goes, I asked her what led to those calculations because I was curious. What made her decide to count up the hours or minutes. She said that she just saw it on the internet and it stuck in her mind and she just likes leaving me notes. I didn't ask her about the third one because it didn't come up. I saw the note after she had left that day, and, to be honest, we don't have a ton of time for chatting in an Algebra I classroom with 29 freshmen.
Besides, there isn't a lot of discussion to be had. The quote speaks for itself. In a way, I feel like these little notes spoke to me, each one at a time when I needed to hear that exact message. This school year has been a hard one and many days I just want it to be over. I remind myself that God has me there for a purpose and I'm supposed to live in the now, not wait for the future. My students (all 126 of them) are interesting and unique individuals created by God with a purpose. There are plenty of moments when I pray to just see them as God does because I really just want to scream at them or sit down and cry. Sometimes a math classroom can be a difficult place because most of the people in the room would rather be anywhere else, but I enjoy the light bulb moments; the glimpses into the lives of so many unique teens; and the occasional glimpses into what they're really thinking.
These little notes were encouraging and got my attention for reasons that had nothing to do with this student; but they also gave a little glimpse into what she had on her mind, which offers a little hope for the future generations (to be honest, at the end of many hard days, hope for future generations can be a hard thing to come by).
So, I've left these little notes out in plain sight and they've actually caught the eye of a few other students. They are just a little reminder that God has given us a set amount of time to impact His children, and we must be willing to take action, not just take notice. :)
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| There they are, where they'll stay, at the bottom of my monitor... |
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