Today marked the "official" beginning of the school year--Convocation for school teachers. We all gather for a motivational morning of inspirational talk. Sometimes it's great and sometimes its just so much drivel. Today, it was fantastic. Our speaker was Erin Gruell (I probably spelled that wrong), the lady who started the Freedom Writers. She talked about the amazing difference teachers can make in the lives of students and, of course, I cried. Then, one of her toughest students, Maria, (if you've seen the movie, she's the girl whose dad was in prison, and whose fellow gang members tried to beat her up), joined her on stage and told us how she had hated teachers and principals and bus drivers and cafeteria workers when she was small, because they had all given up on her. But Erin was different, and she completely changed Maria's life (and the lives of 149 other students). Today, Maria has a successful career, and has graduated from both high school and college. As a teacher, I very much hope that I can have a positive impact on my students. I will work very hard this year to remember every day that we are teaching children, not teaching a test. That's a very important distinction, and it gets muddled in these days of TAKS testing.
One of the most fun things about this morning was running in to one of my former students. Eddie S. graduated in 2007 and this year he is working part time as a teacher's aide while attending college. He plans to be in the classroom full time within three years. It was great to see him--all grown up! He's a terrific kid. He was also part of another fun story from our family vacation last summer.
Mike, Kara, Lauren and I spent a week in New York City last June. One day we spent most of the morning walking down Fifth Avenue window shopping. By the time we made our way down to FAO Schwartz, the famous toy store near Central Park, I was worn out and looking for a place to sit down. (One of my cardinal rules now is: when you find a place to sit, sit). Anyway, Mike and the girls wanted to shop, so off they went to the toy store. I was enjoying my rest outside when my cell phone rang and Kara said I needed to come inside. Why on earth would I want to go into a toy store? I was massively irritated, but she insisted that I come in. So, I dragged myself into the store, and who did I see but Eddie S. and Emily B., two of my wonderful students!
There we were in the middle of New York City (where we knew almost no one) and we see kids from home! It was great. We all had a wonderful time visiting, and when I went back outside, I ran into more of my students. They were in NYC with their church choir, and somehow, in the midst of that vast city, we saw them. The Lord does give us lovely little blessings like that sometimes.
I'm nervous about being our English Department chair this year, but I'm going to do my best. I've tried to befriend all the new people and put them at ease and at least that seems to be working. My room is a disorganized mess, my lesson plans aren't finished yet, and I have a presentation to do on Thursday that I'm not ready for yet.......Obviously I'm going to need a lot of help this year. Everyone seems dedicated to helping, so I hope we can succeed together.
It's late (I stayed up late again--watching Nastia and Shawn take gold and silver on beam) and I've got to get some sleep........
No comments:
Post a Comment