For teachers all across America, the school year is winding down, and for some, it can’t come soon enough! I have spoken with a few teachers who are feeling that way, and the running theme for why is pretty much the same… difficult students, difficult parents, and a toxic environment! It is at this point in time, when the end seems to be further out of reach then it should be, that one needs encouragement to keep going. I read a post by my niece, who is a teacher herself, and wanted to share.
Sometimes, encouragement comes in the strangest ways, under the worst conditions, at the most inopportune time. But, it comes, and it is those fleeting moments, those tiny nuggets, that keep us going. Enjoy!!!
Journal entry #100 of why I do what I do.
I have a student, one of the 5 black students on campus, and he frustrates me beyond measure.
I DO NOT let his behavior slide. I check him when he needs to be checked, I sit with him, making sure his homework is done 100%, and I talk to him and encourage him when others give up on him.
His home life is not great. His mom could care less. She shows up for nothing of his, allows him to stay up until 3 and 4am playing video games and he’s physically and mentally exhausted at school the next day. She doesn’t care an ounce about his schoolwork. The school, nor I, can NEVER get ahold of her, and she is unsupportive.
Not long ago, I pulled him aside to talk to him about what was going on in the world with young black men (he had no idea). After our heart felt talk, I noticed he has opened up more to me. He wants to be with me during homework, activities, snack, and so on.
Today, as he was doing his science project, he started giving up. He threw his hands up and said, I don’t want to do this!” Despite me telling him to keep going, he wouldn’t listen. Finally I got in his face, the way a mom would, and went off.
“YOU ARE GOING TO OPEN THAT COMPUTER AND DO THE REQUIRED RESEARCH FOR THIS SCIENCE PROJECT! YOU ARE NOT GOING TO FAIL BECAUSE YOU’RE TOO LAZY TO TAKE THE EXTRA STEPS TO GET THE INFORMATION! I’LL BE DAMNED (it slipped) IF YOU FAIL THIS SCIENCE PROJECT! I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH TO WATCH YOU GIVE UP ON YOURSELF! NOW OPEN UP YOUR MIND AND TRY. UNTIL THE DAY I GIVE UP ON YOU, YOU BETTER NOT EVER GIVE UP… AND I NEVER GIVE UP ON MY KIDS, SO GET TO WORK!”
He got real quiet (it’s not the first time I’ve raised my voice at him) and I sat back down. It took him a minute, but he took a deep breath and started typing again. I could see him looking at me out of the corners of his eyes until he finally said, “I wish you were my mom.”
You can’t catch them all, but when you catch that one that’s about to fall… it feels so good.
I hope, as this year winds down, that you hang in there. I pray that you find your nugget, that fleeting moment that reminds you of why you became a teacher, why you do what you do!
Contributing Writer ~ Brittany Earl