Tag Archives: Students

On My Mind

Thanks for the Memories

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Mitch and I are now back in the US and we’re trying to figure out our next steps. In the meantime, I’ve been thinking a lot about the positive aspects of my experience in Malaysia. I have learned a lot, befriended inspiring people, expanded my taste buds, and stretched my mind. Along those lines, I am grateful for (in no particular order):

  • the people I met who kept me grounded, taught me about traveling, and were always up for trying something new
  • finding the courage within myself to seek out experiences I never imagined I could or would have
  • my family and friends from home who supported me through phone calls, emails, text messages, comments on this blog, and updates on Facebook
  • the friends I made in Malaysia for being there all hours of all days, bringing me out of my comfort zone, and helping me become wiser, stronger, and braver than I thought I could be
  • the travels that I had all over Southeast Asia
  • learning about different people, places, and cultures
  • the food I grew to love, like curry mee, laksa, Chinese vegetable curry, and Indian food of all varieties
  • learning to play badminton
  • my students for knowingly and unknowingly bringing a smile to my face every day with their inquisitiveness, curiosities, excitement for learning, and positive energy
  • my boyfriend, for supporting my desire to teach overseas, talking me off multiple cliffs, traveling all over with me, and never wavering in his affection (I love you, too)

Lesson learned: Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy. Ms. Frizzle was right all along.

Education, On My Mind

Thank a Teacher

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A pretty rose

Friday was Teachers Day at school and I walked away with 14 roses, a purse, a mug full of candy, several cards, and a slew of “thanks for everything” and “we love you” messages on my board.

My students, adorably, wanted to know if there’s a Students Day. I had to laugh when I told them that every day is Students Day.

Teachers Day, or Teacher Appreciation Day, always makes me think about what I’ve learned and from whom. Most people have had the honor and the pleasure of teaching someone else, formally or informally, recognized or unrecognized. Teachers aren’t always the people in our classrooms; often, they’re people in the “real world” of our lives. I truly believe that each person has something to offer and something to teach. As life-long learners, which I think everyone is and should strive to be, I hope we have the capacity to seek out individual strengths and learn from them.

For example, if you can read this, you are proving that your school teachers, home teachers, and world teachers taught you the most important of skills – how to read. It took more than one person, more than one day, and more than one experience for you to read your name, read a book, read a news article, read this post.

If you can read this, thank a teacher.

Another pretty rose

Education, On My Mind

Why I Teach

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A brief conversation took place between a former student (now a freshman in college) and myself on Facebook today. With some editing to protect privacy, it went like this:

Student – The fire alarm would go off right before I decide to go to bed.
Me – Better than right after!
Student – Suddenly a fire alarm before bed doesn’t seem so bad.

This, in a nutshell, is why I teach.

I teach to help young adults understand ideas and concepts that they wouldn’t understand without guidance. I teach to point out different perspective or different methods of examining an issue, question, or problem. I teach to push my students to think in ways that they didn’t know they could. I teach to prove to students that humans are fallible and that, as humans, they are fallible. I teach to help young people find themselves and find where they fit in the world, what they are capable of contributing, and how they can achieve their dreams. Teaching is a pleasure, a joy, and an honor.

Every so often people learn that I’m a high school teacher and tell me, “I couldn’t do what you do!” As I continuously emphasize to my students, we all play to our strengths. I would make a terrible accountant, doctor, engineer, construction worker, cashier, hairdresser, office manager, etc. None of that matters, though, because I have been told by colleagues, parents, and students that I am a “damn good teacher,” which is precisely what I want to be.

No one is good at everything but everyone is good at something. This is an aspect of life that we learn as we get older, when we realize that not everyone will end up on TV, in the movies, on the front of book jackets, or making millions. As we get older and have more experiences, we, as humans, learn to put our efforts where we feel we can be both happy and successful.

I teach in order to help my students feel comfortable with that reality.