did I mention I love my job?? September 17, 2008
Posted by bookncurls in Uncategorized.Tags: work
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Joe is in the back row smiling. Sue in the front looks back and smiles. They’re not always attentive but you should see them on the football field. And then there is the scientist who’s not so talkative but gets things before everyone else. Oh, and don’t forget the readers who can’t stand hardly ten minutes without sliding out a fantasy book. One is a leader, another one really likes to smile. Every time you see them, you can’t help but smile, too. How could that not be a party every day??
They learn languages better when you make it fun anyway. So is that the job description? Playing to learn new things? And we laugh and tell stories and move around. Some of them I know very well. They’ve been on camps or trips to the Middle East with me. Maybe they’ve taken my class multiple years.
My favorite thing to hear is at Parent-Teacher Conference, like tonight, parents come and say, “This is my son or daughter’s favorite class.” This class is helping them feel success or they want to work in it some day. Sign me up for this activity or can I come to the club meeting?
After a 12 hour day of laughing and playing and learning together, I might be exhausted. …and I am today. But I love it.
I am a teacher May 22, 2008
Posted by bookncurls in Uncategorized.Tags: Arabic, Deaf, high school, Teacher, teaching, teenagers, work
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We all sat in a circle today. At least in one of my classes. It was Deaf Day. No one was talking. But these students can sign, well. We played a complex version of a charade like game. It was the laughter. Teenagers play fun when you play fun first, so I did. I have learned that it’s not playing with them, it’s playing and then standing aside and being the background while they take the stage. Teachers that are playing and the center of attention soon learn they are no longer invited.
I’ve noticed that the trick to teenagers, at least for me, is taking them seriously. They want to fly and still can at that age. Giving them the wings makes them the most happy. So, yes. They have fun but they would also be upset if you didn’t teach them anything. If you never asked them to sit still and listen or think deeply or challenge themselves, they wouldn’t be satisfied. So I find myself exerting all my creative energy to come up with fun but dense academic experiences. An experience that sells the subject. I guess in a way, I’m in sales. I feel success when a student tells me they checked out a book on the Middle East just for fun. Or, they say they are doing a project on Iraq for their Geography class and need the pictures from our class project in Arabic.
They’ve taught me a lot, too. High school can be a microcosm of society. A student seeing the world different than me challenges my status quo. I’m learning to sit back and let things happen. A student who fixes everything in the class. A student who smiles through everything. A student who reads at every possible moment. A student who works with people or with team spirit. A creative student. An obedient student. A student who challenges, who immitates, who questions, who peace makes.
They may be faces to someone else, but to me they live in my heart and have been my associates for a year. We’ve shared the same space and I will never be the same…after being a teacher.
