June 9, 2009
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1 These days I sometimes feel I am reporting home about the distant wars.
2 For example, I spent all day yesterday afternoon trying to figure out which things I hadn't yet graded, which things needed to come home, which things needed to be documented and sent to the District, which things needed to be done before I begin my final online class, which things...
3 And I felt a slight pain in the left side of my heart. It wasn't much, but it had more to do with wishing the very best for my students, and very little with physical concerns.
4 Yesterday I received applause in five out of five classes.
5 As a teacher, I found it quite moving and soulful.
6 I don't think that ever happened to me before. The only other time I had something that amazing was my very first year at YB when the entire senior class stood up and clapped for me at Honors Night.
6 It was shortly afterwards that I became a different teacher, one relegated to the artistic worlds of Language Arts and Comp Lit, where I met and enjoyed students who were English Language Learners. At first I felt offended, but as the years rolled by, I realized that those students were talented, amazing kids, quite often ignored or misunderstood by the mainstream.
7 I got a kick out of them! Many had lower skills, but enormous heart and soul. I had a great connection, always did. While other teachers enjoyed the challenges of upper level students, I had great fun with our English learners.
8 I used to have them read newspapers on Fridays. I remember this one Cambodian kid who used to say, "New pahpah, Newpahpah!" because he always loved newspaper days.
9 I remember the kid who put up with all my grammar drills and returned one day after five years at SJSU to give me thanks for teaching him the structural rules of grammar. He told me that those lessons got him through college.
10 I'm humbled by the applause coming from my students yesterday. They all are fun and brilliant, and many became emotional at the end of the period.
11 These are kids who "get it", and who will always understand.
12 I just thought of the English learners I had through the years who accomplished things beyond what anyone could ever imagine, and how very much they learned and accomplished as well.
13 Much of those underscored accomplishments defined many of the teachers at YB.
14 Those teachers were the best of the best, because the ones who helped the English learners became role models, surrogate parents, and great friends to the students in their quest for higher level thinking.
15 The rewards at YB were always special and amazing.
16 People will never know.
17 YB had a special thing, and it worked for the entire campus year in and year out.
18 The accomplishments of those students were always minimized, and the teachers rarely recognized, but I always knew who the GREAT teachers were. Many still read the DN, and have silently been tremendous support folks for the students who really need good teaching.
19 Unsung heroes, but my personal heroes, to a person.
20 So yesterday I felt proud to have made a difference in the lives of students who understood the effort it takes, and it touched my heart.
21 In some ways, I thought the applause was representative of the many English learners who also struggled to understand what was happening in the "New pah pah".
22 I received a dozen red roses that one time the Seniors in Honors Night stood for me my first year.
23 Yesterday I again received those red roses when each class applauded. Nobody will ever get it, but it meant some sort of sweetness that saturates the lives of any good teacher out there.
24 It felt nice, no matter what else. When I heard them all laughing at the antics of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in Zeffirelli's Taming of the Shrew, it made it all come home.
25 I don't know if this is too whatever, but I'm simply reporting things as they come in.
26 Thanks to all of you who got it over the years. You'd be surprised how much it means to a teacher to be recognized at the end of the school year. It isn't about ego; it's about passion, and how much we hope to make some sort of difference in the lives of our students.
27 Yesterday was one such recognition. I never had five classes applaud with genuine heart.
28 Felt great, I must confess.
29 Wonderful. Marvelous.
30 Peace.
~H~
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