Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.
Well, I survived. I survived what may have been one of the most challenging week of my life in tact and still kicking! It has been a crazy week of saying good-bye to my seniors, celebrating my son's last day of high school, enjoying and being amazed by my daughter and her friends' production of Hairspray!, and seeing my son and his dear friends off to prom! I am telling you, when it rains it pours. I have been running myself every which way, planning connections with no time to spare, missing said connections, relying on friends to get me through, friends continuing to amaze me by always coming through for me, and honestly, upon reflection, enjoying each memory that was made this week (even though in some of the pictures I could not stop crying long enough to get a good picture and I look like I am suffering from some terrible illness).
Now, this week will be slower. I am going to focus on my juniors, getting their grades in and planning for what I know will be an epically awesome final project with my best teacher-partner-friend in the universe. It is Teacher Appreciation week, and I want to focus on appreciation for this blog. I really cherish taking the time to appreciate the people who surround you, many of whom you forget to notice on a day to day basis. Of course, I looked up the etymology of the word appreciation, and it is from the Latin, appretiare, meaning to "estimate the quality of , generally with a sense of high estimation." I think that is about right-really thinking about the quality of the people I have been lucky enough to know in my life.
It would be impossible for me to write about my favorite favorite teacher because I have been blessed to be surrounded by teachers for most of my life, and I have known so many amazing educators. I have favorite teachers that taught me in elementary school, high school, and college; I have had amazing teachers that have taught me as teacher mentors (this is a never ending process of generosity); I have witnessed my children being changed by amazing teachers; I am related to amazing teachers. When I think about my favorite teachers, I can't remember the content of what they taught me. What I remember is the way they made me feel valued and the way they challenged me. I appreciate them!
My favorite teacher in elementary school was named Mrs. Parks. She was my third grade teacher. She was a large, black, woman with giant, fawn colored, sleepy eyes, and a hug that encircled you and protected you from anything else that might be going on outside of her embrace. She was brilliant, but I didn't know that at the time. I was kind of a brainiac as kid, I read early and voraciously, being moved through the ranks of reading groups well above my grade-level. Most teachers just let me do my own thing, which I loved, but not Mrs. Parks. Mrs. Parks singled me out and gave me vocabulary and spelling words that were FAR FAR above my comfort level. Each week, she would pull me aside, give me a carefully hand written list, and in her quiet, slow, voice read me those words at the beginning of the week so I could hear her savor the pronunciation--and I knew what to do. I had to look up the words, finding the definition and the part of speech. I had to use the words in sentences and paragraphs and stories I was writing. I had to copy those freaking words over at least ten times on my paper. I was overwhelmed at first. I didn't know these words, I didn't want to know these words--this was TOO HARD! I'll never forget the first time, after weeks of trying, that I finally got a 100% on the spelling test for those words. I gleamed up at her triumphantly, and she just smiled and said, "I guess I'll have to find harder words for you next week." My face fell. I needed 100% on everything. I mean, that was the goal I was supposed to want, right? As I continued to struggle, I was terrified of my upcoming report card. I mean, I had not been getting 100% on everything, so this must doom me for my report card. However, when report card day came, I got straight A's. I knew it was wrong. I thought about not telling--I mean, if Mrs. Parks made a mistake, too bad!?! I knew that was wrong, so after the final bell rang, I trudged up to her desk and explained that my report was wrong. She laughed in this slow, grumbly laugh. She said it was exactly right, she gave me one of her amazing hugs, and she told me she was proud of me. At the time, I had no idea what was going on, but now, as a teacher and an adult, I understand that Mrs. Parks was trying to teach me that it isn't really about getting the easy 100% that matters. I still hold on to that lesson today in my life. The value of that lesson is beyond anything I can possible assign a number to. Thank you, Mrs. Parks, wherever you are, for your incredible dedication and for seeing in me something I didn't see in myself.
For my seniors last day, I made them all gifts. The gifts I made (which I have not wanted to write about until now) were made from $1 photo albums from Wal-Mart. They hold 24 photos. For each photo album, I designed a cover for each student, that is in the shape of a Wildcat (our school mascot). The Wildcat head is filled with 10 words that I think of for each student. They are what I appreciate about each individual student, something I have learned about them over the course of our year together. The words range from things like "dimples" to "generosity", things that most of the time only the student and I might understand. As a teacher myself, I appreciate my students more than any other aspect of my career. They are the people who make what I do possible. Students share with me, through their writing and discussions, parts of themselves that I could never put a value on. I am not sure they understand how much impact they have on me, and how utterly grateful I am for their honestly (brutally at times) and their capacity for continuing to be the greatest teachers I have ever had. If you are one of my students or a parent of a student I had the honor of working with, please know, I will NEVER be able to thank you enough. I am filled with appreciation.
This week, as your days probably fly by, I hope you will take a second to appreciate something or someone who has provided you something that is immeasurable. A gift of acknowledgement is enough. Chances are, the person or people you appreciate might not even be aware of the impact they had had on your life. Tell them--it will be the best thing you do this week!
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| Our handsome son ready for prom! |
It would be impossible for me to write about my favorite favorite teacher because I have been blessed to be surrounded by teachers for most of my life, and I have known so many amazing educators. I have favorite teachers that taught me in elementary school, high school, and college; I have had amazing teachers that have taught me as teacher mentors (this is a never ending process of generosity); I have witnessed my children being changed by amazing teachers; I am related to amazing teachers. When I think about my favorite teachers, I can't remember the content of what they taught me. What I remember is the way they made me feel valued and the way they challenged me. I appreciate them!
My favorite teacher in elementary school was named Mrs. Parks. She was my third grade teacher. She was a large, black, woman with giant, fawn colored, sleepy eyes, and a hug that encircled you and protected you from anything else that might be going on outside of her embrace. She was brilliant, but I didn't know that at the time. I was kind of a brainiac as kid, I read early and voraciously, being moved through the ranks of reading groups well above my grade-level. Most teachers just let me do my own thing, which I loved, but not Mrs. Parks. Mrs. Parks singled me out and gave me vocabulary and spelling words that were FAR FAR above my comfort level. Each week, she would pull me aside, give me a carefully hand written list, and in her quiet, slow, voice read me those words at the beginning of the week so I could hear her savor the pronunciation--and I knew what to do. I had to look up the words, finding the definition and the part of speech. I had to use the words in sentences and paragraphs and stories I was writing. I had to copy those freaking words over at least ten times on my paper. I was overwhelmed at first. I didn't know these words, I didn't want to know these words--this was TOO HARD! I'll never forget the first time, after weeks of trying, that I finally got a 100% on the spelling test for those words. I gleamed up at her triumphantly, and she just smiled and said, "I guess I'll have to find harder words for you next week." My face fell. I needed 100% on everything. I mean, that was the goal I was supposed to want, right? As I continued to struggle, I was terrified of my upcoming report card. I mean, I had not been getting 100% on everything, so this must doom me for my report card. However, when report card day came, I got straight A's. I knew it was wrong. I thought about not telling--I mean, if Mrs. Parks made a mistake, too bad!?! I knew that was wrong, so after the final bell rang, I trudged up to her desk and explained that my report was wrong. She laughed in this slow, grumbly laugh. She said it was exactly right, she gave me one of her amazing hugs, and she told me she was proud of me. At the time, I had no idea what was going on, but now, as a teacher and an adult, I understand that Mrs. Parks was trying to teach me that it isn't really about getting the easy 100% that matters. I still hold on to that lesson today in my life. The value of that lesson is beyond anything I can possible assign a number to. Thank you, Mrs. Parks, wherever you are, for your incredible dedication and for seeing in me something I didn't see in myself.
For my seniors last day, I made them all gifts. The gifts I made (which I have not wanted to write about until now) were made from $1 photo albums from Wal-Mart. They hold 24 photos. For each photo album, I designed a cover for each student, that is in the shape of a Wildcat (our school mascot). The Wildcat head is filled with 10 words that I think of for each student. They are what I appreciate about each individual student, something I have learned about them over the course of our year together. The words range from things like "dimples" to "generosity", things that most of the time only the student and I might understand. As a teacher myself, I appreciate my students more than any other aspect of my career. They are the people who make what I do possible. Students share with me, through their writing and discussions, parts of themselves that I could never put a value on. I am not sure they understand how much impact they have on me, and how utterly grateful I am for their honestly (brutally at times) and their capacity for continuing to be the greatest teachers I have ever had. If you are one of my students or a parent of a student I had the honor of working with, please know, I will NEVER be able to thank you enough. I am filled with appreciation.
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| One of my senior gifts |
I hope Mrs. Parks...wherever she is now... manages to come across this blog post.
ReplyDelete:)
H