A new blog look. I’ll probably be changing it every time I blog, simply because I take too long to update and then I get bored with the thing.
But on to more interesting topics…
I am back in the classroom. And loving it. I am a long term substitute for one of the English teachers at Harlingen High School, the place where I taught for eight years. Everyone has welcomed me back with open arms and is hoping that I re-join the team next school year. I just might do that.
The classroom is a different place for me now. After a year and a half in Mexico and a total of three children of my own, it is safe to say that my perspective is very different. I now see teenagers with broken homes; broken hearts; dragging in to class unable to stay awake because of God-knows-what keeping them up the night before; smart brains but poor choices; trying, trying to find out who they are… Of course some of them are pretty together, but I see them differently, too. They need just as much attention as the broken. They need to know that they matter; that they’re not invisible because of their “good” behavior in this sea of drugs and drama. I’m smiling as they walk into the classroom because I WANT to smile, not because a teacher textbook tells me I must. I take some time to talk to them and give the grammar a rest because I really want to know what’s going on with them. Compassion motivates me. They are responding. It’s kind of like breathing.
It’s hard to get used to the 8-hour-a-day work schedule, and I realize that I have much less time with my own children. It makes the time with them even more precious. I find myself being jealous of Melodee playing at her friend’s house. WE need to spend the evening together. But I can’t keep her for myself alone. Finding ways to be meaningful to her in even the smallest conversations and gestures. My babies. Yet I find value in touching the lives of these teenagers, too. Not to be their mamma, but to be a voice or a smile that lets them know there is someone in their lives who is rooting for them. God help my testimony to bear fruit.
Dawn Said:
on February 20, 2009 at 3:36 am
Those students are blessed to have you. God will use you. I love all that compassion I hear in your words.
Kristen Scogin Said:
on February 20, 2009 at 11:38 pm
That is exactly how I feel about the kids in my classes. They are so young having to go through CRAP that most of the time their own parents put them through. I never thought I would love to teach this much. I told mom and dad today that it is the most natural thing I have ever done, as well as the most fun I have ever had. There are a few kiddos I just want to take home with me, care for them, love them, show them what it feels like to be truely cared for. Basically show them Gods love.
Erica Said:
on February 21, 2009 at 4:13 pm
This is what all teachers need to possess… the passion/compassion to stand in front of those kids and be more than just a talking head…. I bow my head in gratitude for teachers like you…..
Erica Maier Said:
on February 24, 2009 at 2:08 pm
And since my comment here was sucked into oblivion, too, I will restate that there needs to be more teachers like you. Teachers who are more than just talking heads, but ones that actually are compassionate/passionate about the well-being/future of their students…. My heart screams with gratitude for teachers like you…..