A Teacher's Lesson

Today started out pretty well but did not finish nearly as strong. By the time school was over I'd spilled tea all over my desk and the newly updated October dates on my desk calendar were blurry and damp and ruined. I tripped over something or other and misplaced the pages I needed for periods 4 and 5 to complete the agree-disagree statements we had left to debate. The late afternoon and evening proceeded about the same with a trip to Fed-ex to retrieve my daughter's Ipod that was not fixed in the least. The diagnosis fee if I send it back is $100. I had to deliver the bad news which made her very sad. I slopped enchilada sauce all over the counter, twice, and now I am supposed to be grading, but the efficiency tank is bone dry.

So I was ruminating on this no good, very bad day. For all that went wrong, two things I almost forgot went right.

First, last Friday I collected daily writing journals from my high school juniors. Now I am hefting bags of 57 journals with 20 entries each. Don't bother to argue that they don't need to be read. I create serious connections with my students in these journals as I ask them light questions like, how old is your little brother ? or more serious do you need help? Anyway, it takes some students a good while to warm up to writing every day. So today, their first day without journals for a week, two students said they already were missing writing in them. My teacher-heart grew a size.

Second, after school today the boy who previously has walked out in a disgusted huff, frustrated that the class doesn't always work the way he wants it to, hung around. He wanted to share a poem he'd written about waking up on a cold, dewy morning. Sharing anything you write is a risk. Sharing your poetry riskier still. Sharing your poetry with your teacher, an act of bravery. Still there was the poem written on lined paper with loopy f's I couldn't read, powerful words and artful imagery. Once he'd shared the one, he read me another. A boy with the brave heart of a poet, shared a bit of himself with me. That's a moment to savor. Tomorrow he says he will bring in a novella he's been working on. We talked about the process of writing, writer blocks and characters that don't know what to do next. I hope he will share more in the future.

I may have been physically clumsy today, but as a teacher, for at least a couple of shining moments, I had the grace of a dancer. Because in the best moments of a teacher's day, your students teach you as much, if not more, than you are teaching them. It isn't really about the stack of papers at the end of the day.

Score One For Free Time

The school year is in full swing. Free time is precious and in short supply. Each day I greet 115 sixteen to eighteen year-olds and try to capture their attention long enough to fill them full of literary, communication and writing knowledge. They bring their stories of when they went to bed (often in the wee hours of the morning), how they spent their days and weekends (texting, movies, hanging out, activities and the occasional bout of homework), and what's bugging them.

I like them. I like their stories. I like the teaching. I fear the grading.

The grading is what eats away free time. The other thing chewing away at the edges of free time is a class I need (one of two) to get recertified to teach. In Washington we call this the ProCert (Professional Certification). I must make a portfolio. Former students will smile with satisfaction after completing one so that they could graduate.

So I work during the days at school. Then I come home in the evenings and do homework and grade things. My own daughters require some attention mostly in the form of things they need to shop for (homecoming dresses, gifts, jeans that fit, etc.) or places they need to be driven. Occasionally they need a piece of advice.

Today is Saturday. I woke up ready to get to my homework and grading (a full recyclable grocery bag full), but first had a variety of household tasks to complete:

• Clean the shower
• Fold some laundry
• Meet the dryer repair guy
• Clean up the dryer area
• Make dinner in the crockpot...Sloppy Joes
• Sew straps on Mckenna's homecoming dress
• Sew purse for Mckenna's homecoming dress (this I added on and shouldn't have)
• Take Mckenna to friend's house
• Help move kayak

So it's 5pm and my homework is done until tomorrow and the bag of grading is no smaller. I seized some writing time though, so score one for FREE TIME. Wait, I hear my bag of grading calling. Better go unpack it.