One of My Best Days of Teaching

January 10, 2018

It's the start of the new semester as well as the new calendar year.  Two of my classes had a student teacher last semester, and even in the classes where there wasn't a student teacher, I sensed a bit of restlessness and stress as we returned for the home stretch of senior year.  I decided we needed to do a reset/refocus, something akin to the kind of reflection many of us do as a new year dawns.  I showed them a couple of short video clips from Pursuit of Happiness and Freedom Writers that focus on chasing your dreams and building community.  We talked about big picture ideas that reflected what we hope to see in the world and how we'd like to see ourselves in it.  I handed out 3 x 5 cards and asked them to anonymously answer the question: What Do I Hope?  I gathered them and read them aloud, and told my kids I'd post them on the wall to help us remember who we are at our core--as a community--as we are progressing through the rest of our year together.

If you've ever wondered if our kids today are shallow or callous or self-centered, perhaps here you have your answer.  I was incredibly impressed with the genuine, sincere, and heart-felt responses:
I hope to be kinder to others.
I hope to be the kind of person others can turn to for help.
I hope I can find my passion and purpose in life.
I hope I can make my parents proud.

I was also a bit broken-hearted by some of the responses:
I hope to finally find true friends.
I hope people notice my silence.
I hope to be able to find a reason to get up each day.
I hope to finally be able to love myself.

Our kids can be goofy and immature and caught up the tiny details of every day life.  But they have big dreams and hopes and aspirations--and many of them are carrying really heavy weights hidden in their hearts.  It eye-opening to me, and to my students as well.  One of my kids shook his head and said, "It's really sad how many people in here are dealing with such heavy feelings.  And we don't even know."

Yeah.  Yes, it is.  So maybe the best way to operate is to treat each other as if we all are.

One of my best days of teaching.