In Full Flight

Today my class graduated.

My first Form 4- Form 5 Biology class.

My first teaching experience class.

Not an inherited class.

My class.

As I saw them smiling in their seats I wondered whether I gave them everything they needed to go out and do well.

Did I give enough advice?

Enough guidance?

Sigh...I couldn't help but feel this sense of apprehension.

So innocent. So much they did not yet know.

Before the sadness could fully envelope me, I started receiving some "notes" and words of comfort

" i just wanted to say that you are a wonderful teacher and thanks for teaching me. its so great that you instilled very valuable information in me that i can use very wisely today. i hope you have alot of fun with the new upper sixes as you did with us."

"Thanks Miss"

"Miss you could add me on FB now! I graduate! Love you Miss!"

Well...you get the idea. So I hold on to the hope that their paths though not perfect, will be filled with experiences that allow them to learn and thrive...fly...

Sacrifice

Sometimes as a teacher, you have to be the "bad guy".

You have to hold your students accountable for their actions and call them to task on their shortcomings. Frankly, it sucks. Ultimately we know that the action is for "their own good" and will help them out "in the long run" - but sometimes the cliches appended to the actions do not make you feel any better.

This week I had to pull one of my students out of the football team. After missing several classes, not doing assignments, the unspoken rule perhaps at our school is, if you cannot balance the both, academia must prevail. It was even easier to do this when the coach said "well he doh really play". Still...after all was said and done - it sucked.

Another sucky thing was I had to call in my Form 5s for a lunch time session, because of all the Friday holidays in this term. They came - but complained. I couldn't understand why they couldn't see that the very sacrifice they were making I had to do the same. Sigh...I understand the term "teacher burnout" now, even though I am not experiencing it myself, because I can see how after years and years of sometimes forcing children to do things that benefit them can take its toll.

I hope and pray that I always have the stamina to sacrifice and give the extra that our children deserve. When I cannot...I will resign.

“We, the unwilling,led by the unknowing,are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long,with so little,we are now qualified to do anything with nothing.”

Smiles on Rainy Days.

This post is dedicated to my students that make me smile. Particularly my Form 5 Biology Class. It is one thing to love your job and what you do, to give and give and give...but sometimes when the cup runs a little low it can be difficult to find a refill.

Last Monday I went to class, drained, tired, sick and generally not in a good mood. I always try not to let my emotional state affect what I give to my students, but that day I was really running on "E" the tank was empty, and I had no choice but to deliver to my class of 41 students. I said to the first student attempting to frustrate me:

"Look! This is NOT a democracy. It is a dictatorship. I am Fidel. This is Cuba. I make the rules."

To which the child replied: "Miss we will do like animal farm and have ah revolution"

"Well until the uprising...sit down."

As the class progressed I knew that my students knew I was not too well - even without me telling them that. They used the chance to work diligently at the activity - to throw in a joke here and there - that had me in stitches! I left that class, still sick, but feeling SOOOOOO much better. I told them, "You all know that you are real special right?"

On my rainy day, those students were my sunshine and I don't think they will really ever know how much it meant to me to receive from them.