Some days are definitely better than others in my line of work, but who isn’t that true for among the working? On my last post Angie asked me a question that I’ve been pondering ever since I read it:
How do you renew yourself?
I responded in the comments but after I did it I realized that it wasn’t a really good answer. Then, the next day at work I actually identified one of the things I get to do and that comes out of no where. It happens more often than I notice but it was having the presence of mind while thinking about renewal that made it especially sweet for me.
It’s amazing that I don’t have the legs of a soccer player with the trekking around our large, spread-out school building. There are stairs. Lots of stairs. And, once, while trying to see if a student could get from the gym to a class on the other side of the building within the 5 minute passing period, I realized that it could not be done. So, if I’m needed then it will take at the very least 5 minutes and 10 seconds to get from one side of that place to the other. That’s not including the wearing of heels, either.
So, in walking around a school building I will encounter many things. Students skipping class, kids on their way to the bathroom, pairs of students working together in the hallway outside their classroom. Each time, as I pass by, I ask, “Hey! Whatcha workin’ on?” because I want to be sure they’re WORKING on something. Usually, I say it loud enough for their teachers to hear us conversing so they don’t get in trouble for talking in the hallway. The answers are varied: “I’m taking a test (or quiz) because I was absent” or “We’re catching up on things everyone has has done because we were absent” or “I didn’t do my homework and the teacher’s making me finish it right now” and even “We have a project to do together.”
When I happened upon three girls huddled in a circle of desks I asked my usual question. One of them frowned and said, “We have to read these chapters we missed from yesterday” and another joined in with “Ugh. I hate this book” and then the third one chimed in, “Me, too!” Only because they were so honest did I stop my purposeful walk down the hallway to see if I could get them to explain why they didn’t like it. They were reading Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” which is a staple in freshman literature in our curriculum.
In what seemed like a matter of minutes we were embroiled in a passionate discussion about how slow the beginning of the book is with it’s historical foundation. “If you can get past that part ok then you’ll be fine, but it’s really important to understanding this town they live in.” I asked them to tell me what they liked about the characters (Scout’s feisty attitude, they said, and also how she beats up boys) and then I told them how much I loved chapter 18. That was the first time they broke eye contact and conversation with me to furiously find that chapter in their own individual books. I learned that they hadn’t read it yet and that they didn’t think much of the character Mrs. Dubose. It was about this time in our conversation that one of them asked, “How do you know this stuff?” Of course, students don’t understand that I’ve been a teacher, that I’ve come from a background of being an instructor in the classroom. They must think that principals are magically born and that upon leaving school I just declared myself an administrator. Someday I will tell them that because I found a unicorn in my backyard it granted me three wishes and one of them was this job, but this was not the day.
As I was getting along my merry way (for yes, there was a task at hand, but at this point in time I had actually forgotten where I was headed – surely it was going to include more stairs) I saw their teacher peek out of the room to see what all this discussion was so I offered an explanation. “Hi. I was just seeing what these ladies were up to and they filled me in about the book you’re reading with them.” Their teacher smiled at me and said, “Oh. Ok. I was just checking on them.” Then I looked back at these girls and said, “You’ll tell me about when you’ve read chapter 18, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Sure.”
“Ok.”
As I rounded the corner I overheard them talking about how they were going to race to get to chapter 18 and who would get there first. And just like that, I’m renewed again.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I love Tequila Mockingbird!
You want to start a book study with me then?
This made me smile, and renewed me, too! You keep pushing those kids to the good chapter, girl.
i have to break myself down through either work or exercise and then do something nice for myself. so a bunch of yard work, followed by a long hot shower, glass of wine, and then a couple hours laying in the hammock. yep, that does it for me
I renew myself with vigorous masturbation.
What a great story. You have changed those girls life for good. Amazing.
It’s gotta be a “teacher” thing…mine, when a student who struggles with just about everything finally gets it or shows up the “smarter” students.
Five minutes from one side to another, OMG!
That’s truly inspiring. And I have hope for our youth again!
I love teaching TKAM every year. It’s SO hard to drag my students in to the story, but at the end, almost unanimously, it is voted the year’s favorite text in my classroom. A friend, who is a sports editor at a large newspaper, recently asked me why so many adults name Lee’s book as their lifelong favorite. I thought about that a great deal as I taught it this winter. It seems to me that it’s the first book that tugs at those emerging adult sensibilities which we only see glimpses of in ninth grade. They are so all about themselves at this time of life, but the message of seeing the world through someone else’s eyes must really pierce their hearts. Though most aren’t ready to embrace this practice on a daily basis, they are beginning to “get it.” And that’s mighty sweet.
Linda, same here. I love teaching TKaM, but only after the first few chapters. I usually try to get students interested in the mystery of Boo Radley to get them hooked, then they’re already somewhat engaged when we get to the juicier bits.
MM, when I read the question, I was trying to think about what I do for renewal, and I have to say, I think I’d steal your answer. Quite honestly, it’s those moments with students that refill my teaching batteries. They seem to come just often enough to keep me going.
This is a great scene. It’s like something out of a movie or a TV show about someone who cared and really knew their material well. What is next in “The Adventures of Kelly Mochamomma, Intellectual Gunslinger?”
woo-hoo! You’re an inspiration.