Standing in the Hall of Fame

Well, we just finished the first 8 weeks of school, and I can't believe how quickly time has passed. Life has been an absolute whirlwind, but I'm learning so much. Life revolves around my babies and my job, but at this point I'm grateful for that.

By now, I have had a chance to get to know my students, make some important connections with some of them, learn a lot about myself as a teacher, and continue to discover more about what is truly important to me in life. I have about 120 students that I teach in six 6th grade Reading classes each day. They are the most wonderfully precious people God has ever placed into my life, but my heart continues to break each week as I learn more about their circumstances. Some of my students barely understand/speak English. Some of them have incredibly difficult home lives. Others have never been shown the love, patience, and understanding that every single child deserves. That just makes my job all the more urgent. Yes, I am trying to teach my precious babies how to understand what they read and communicate that through writing; however, I am also trying to teach them how to take pride in who they are and where they are going.

I have already found my "I teach for" student. I obviously cannot share his name, but he is truly a blessing to me. To many, it seems strange that I have so quickly taken such an interest in a "boy like him." He fights, he disrupts, and he basically has a lot of anger issues, which he finally admitted to me himself a couple of weeks ago in a journal entry he wrote to me. What I have realized about him, is that he walks around every day thinking that no one wants him. To be honest, it would be easy to not want him. He certainly is not an easy child to deal with in terms of behavior. But for whatever reason, God sent him to me. When he was causing problems in other classes, I was somehow drawn to him. I have shared with him all the good things that I see in him, like his leadership, his humor, and his intelligence (which he seems to allow you to see only when he trusts you). Even after only a few short days of these conversations, I began to see a change in him. Giving him a job in the classroom, encouraging  him for the good work he does, and being consistent in checking in on him even when it meant missing my only break of the day meant that he began to see that I was not lying to him, that I truly do care about helping him this year. Unfortunately, other circumstances caused my plans for him to be postponed. While I will not go into detail, what I can say is that when the time comes, I will be ready and waiting to pick up where we left off. I have promised him that I will help him in every single way that I can this year, and I have never been so committed to something in my life. Please please please pray for him. Pray that God would use me this year to reach my student in a way that he maybe has not seen before in school.

This week, I introduced my students to the achievement gap. I began what I hope will be a year-long discussion of the injustices present within the educational system and in a society that expects less from my students because of their backgrounds, income, language barriers, etc. I shared my Big Goals for the year with the kids, many of whom responded quite well. They seemed discouraged to hear about the current circumstances, but I hope they see the greatness that lies ahead of them this year if we work together. I had students write letters at the end of class telling me how they felt about learning about the achievement gap and our Big Goals for the year. I had students share that they were saddened to learn about the way people think of low-income schools. I had students promising that they will work hard this year to help close the gap. I had some students who thanked me for sharing with them. And yet I had some who did not seem to connect much with what we talked about. Those students are the ones I will work that much harder for as the weeks continue, because my goal is to leave none of my students behind. We will all succeed together, because I want my kids to be a family and a team.

I played this song for my kids at the end of our lesson about the achievement gap. This is the vision I have for my students, and I wanted them to know it. One student wrote in their letter at the end of class that this song changed his life. Later in the day, he ran up to me in the hallway and asked for the name of it. If this week I reached even one student with my hopes for them and my confidence in their abilities, then I know that God has used me. For that, I am thankful. I know that we have a long road ahead of us this year, but I will work as hard as I possibly can every single day to help my precious babies get to where they need to be. Because one day, you WILL see them standing in the hall of fame.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jukv9Q1eR2g

I promise to update sooner next time! Life just gets crazy. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.