Yesterday I had the rare opportunity to have an afternoon off of work. As much as I had planned to take that afternoon, stay at school and get ahead, I decided to take the afternoon, go home and be comfortable with just being caught up. I wanted to spend it with my girls. They were off of school, enjoying a day in their pj’s with the best daddy ever. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?
As I drove home I was thinking about my morning in-service. The administration asked us to extract some grades and do some assessment comparisons. It looked to take a few hours and was a bit unorganized so when they gave us the option to stay and get help as a group, or go off on our own and do it ourselves, I chose the latter option. Gulp…math + excel + equations = my worst nightmare. Our faculty is all across the board on their technology know-how, and after only a few minutes of listening to the complaints, I got the heck out of Dodge to try to fight my own battles.
As I was reflecting on teachers as students I realized that as a whole, we don’t seem to practice what we preach. When most teachers preach to “do your job” that is the exact same sentiment that we needed for ourselves yesterday. No complaints, no bad attitudes, just carrying out what was expected of us. After leaving what may have been one of our worst in-services, I spent my afternoon at home I felt like I was sitting through one of the best teacher in-services ever. I watched my girls (6) and (4) teaching their (1) year old sister how to play duck-duck goose. They were so patient. They led by example. They walked her through the steps. They used clear, calm voices. They were everything I hope to be for my students. As I watched Norah learning how to play this game, she just didn’t quite get it. She was the struggling student that didn’t get discouraged. She kept watching her sisters, letting them walk her through the steps. She would try it on her own, run the wrong direction, and then laugh when the girls tried to correct her. She took it all in stride. The older girls, would laugh with her at her mistakes, walk her through the steps again and continue to be patient as they taught her the game. I watched in awe of these amazing teachers and the heart of my amazing student. It was the perfect example of helping the least, become part of the most. As a teacher there is nothing better than seeing a class as a whole develop and achieve. Yesterday was the perfect example of why I feel our current structure of grading is backwards. You can’t grade someone’s development; you can only assist in their progress.
1 comment:
As always, Jaclyn, your writing is heartfelt and beautiful. I almost felt like I was there watching those girls playing, giving of themselves to teach their sister. They learn that by example and what great parents they have to teach and nurture them into the next stage of their lives. Along with being a blessing to our family, you are also a blessing to your many students!
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