...... the cold has come to stay in our household. Now that Max is up and running.... the rest of us now have to cope with not feeling particularly well. It has become apparent too this week that the summer we missed has now magically arrived. Oh goody.... sigh....
Well it certainly has been an interesting week... Monday, one of my students sitting in the back of the lecture hall was being razzed by his classmates. I looked up as I settled my stuff on the podium and began the task of liberating my teacher stuff and tool box from my roller cart. I follow the stares and settle mine upon the student in the second to last row. There in full splendor is a young man wearing what looks to be the skimpiest clingy stretch dress with his bare knees jutting out in front of him. The looks are now glancing my way waiting for my reaction. "well," I begin, "it does appear that you sir have indeed lost the bet?!" The young man nods quietly keeping his focus away from the other stares. "I think that you holding up your end of the deal is admirable and should the ship ever go down, you sir will be the one I will be looking for because clearly, you are a man of your word and one to be trusted"..... the class became quiet for a few seconds before they let him know that they too thought he was a stand up guy for following through with his end of the bet. He would later approach me quietly and thank me for having his back. Anytime. It would be a few hours later when I would discover that all my teacher stuff was packed into my rolling cart except for my brand new headphones..... which Stephanie, a colleague of mine would attempt and succeed at getting them back for me and gathering up some student submissions from my drop box. Very sweet.
There is a lot of work involved in creating a course, tweaking it along the way and giving the students opportunities to collaborate and integrate in the groups they belong to. It always irks me when the general public takes shots at teachers and makes the assumption that somehow we are riding a wave of good fortune and plenty of perks. I doubt very much that I would have the same opinion of their career knowing how much effort I put into mine. Its not just about regurgitating information, in my world it is about conveying the information with as much energy and enthusiasm as you have passion for what you do. I have yet to have an entire summer off without taking a course or improving the one I am currently teaching or trying to self-learn. It is pretty ballsy to make flagrant statements about someone's chosen vocation if you have yet to walk in their shoes. We have all had bad teachers....they do exist... and I have had a few myself and yes in the recent past.... but as I have said to my children - the situation might not always be ideal but you have to take ownership of what you do.
Today I was blessed to be visited by Mary... we are both educators... she has retired and me, well, I am still going. I love what I do and we chat about all that makes teaching interesting. It is rarely the same day twice, that's for sure. We both tear up as we talk about my one blog entry... it's why I adore her... we always find important and meaningful discussions that are heartfelt. Thank you so much for visiting with me today.... I am sending you off with lots of hugs today. We happen to be brought together by fate and I will be forever grateful for her friendship.
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