Remember the Good....

I have got to stop being surprised by the roller coaster of emotions that make up the life of a teacher.

One of my classes kicked the shit out of me today. Students talking, paper balls flying and a lesson that wasn't going anywhere made 4th period today one of the worst of my year. During the next period I had to have one of my advisees escorted out of class because she was ready to start a fight over a missing jacket. By lunch I was totally fried and the prospect of parent-teacher conferences later in the night wasn't making anything better. (My twitter feed from around this time reveals a lot about where I was mentally at the time)

I met with a number of parents tonight, but one in particular saved my day. I have a student who failed my class both first and second quarter. We were working on a project a few weeks back and it was starting to look like the third quarter would be more of the same. I pushed him to get to work and over the next few days, something clicked with him and he ended up doing his best work on the year. On the last day before Winter Break, I shared the good news with his adviser and later in the day he approached me (rather sheepishly) to ask if I would do the same with a phone call home to his mom. I left her a message that night and was able to meet her tonight at parent-teacher conferences. We discussed how much he has improved and that the past few weeks have marked a new beginning for him in my class. By the time we were done, his mother was in tears as she told him how proud she was of him. Her reaction, and the look of pride and accomplishment on his face absolutely made my day, one that had been pretty bad leading up to that point.

Teaching is really an amazing thing. There are times when the challenges of teaching can be completely overwhelming. During these times it's easy for a teacher to wonder if there's anything he or she can do to make things better, but then there are night's like tonight where you get to celebrate the joy of a successful student and a proud parent. It's important that we remember these times of joy when the tide rises against us.