I think this is my last year of teaching. I only think it because a few details have to fall into place before I’ll know for sure, and I am trying to patiently wait on the Lord’s leading. (Try is the operative word in that sentence, I succeed only a minimal amount of the time!) When this year began I thought it would be fun to blog about my last year of teaching, and as I navigate this year, I find myself enjoying my days in a new way and also remembering that there are moments in every school year that are priceless. I have a ton of those after 28 years, so maybe I’ll share some of them as this year progresses.
This week was a month long. The time change is wicked on classroom dynamics, and we got our first snow. Add that to students under the influence of sugar leftover from Halloween last weekend and you have a perfect storm. We did manage to have two really beautiful moments. The first happened at the end of the day mid week. I was sitting on my wooden straight backed chair with my 5th graders sitting around me on the floor. We were discussing point of view in fiction and non-fiction. My classroom phone interrupted us – the office needed a student who was leaving early. Now usually, no matter how dedicated a student is, leaving early is cause for celebration. Most students bolt. Our discussion continued as the leaving student gathered her things to leave. I didn’t pay much attention to her for a minute, but then looked up. She was packing her backpack and gathering her coat, all the time with her hand raised to add something to the discussion. I will readily admit that I felt a great deal of pride at my incredible teaching prowess as evidenced by her continued involvement in my rousing discussion. (OK – I still feel that way…) However, humility and reality quickly returned. She was no sooner out the door than the discussion deteriorated. I ended it abruptly. You see, the kids had chili for lunch, and digestive processes apparently got to one of the students sitting very near me, and since I was on a chair, I was the recipient of the outcome of those processes. Class dismissed!
The second beautiful moment was one that I pray for often during the school year. As a public school teacher, I am, for the most part, unable to bring up Biblical lessons in class. Freedom of speech, however, gives students their individual rights to share their thoughts, even if that includes sharing their beliefs. We were reading a news magazine that our class subscribes to. There was a small note in it that stated that most scientists believe that in the question of “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” the egg came first. We read that ‘fact’ and I simply asked. “Do you agree with the scientists?” Several students raised hands to say they did agree. Then a quiet student in the back raised his hand. When called on, he hesitantly answered that his religion was based on the Bible, and that the Bible says that God created the animals, not eggs. The tiny me inside may head was screaming “Alleluia” and “Amen” as many other students agreed and the discussion continued. I love it when God’s word is spoken in my room. 🙂
