Epiphany

Some of my students are the sweetest, most gratifying children to work with. They learn so quickly and with such eagerness, that it helps fuel the fire and passion I have for bringing them further knowledge of English.

And then there are the others. The ones who exasperate me, bring me to the edge of reason, and sometimes shove me over. Once I felt like slapping one of them, and I think that in a past life I would have. I'm not proud of the fact that I felt like slapping him, but I am impressed that I resisted. I didn't go over that edge.

In the past, I wrote about every problem child's problems in classes, thinking that the parents would be able to do something to inspire their children to behave in class. An idea has been rolling around in my head, though, building up like a snowball until it became more obvious. They may be misbehaving, but isn't it my job to guide their behavior and draw them into the learning process so they aren't disruptive? And so now, I think back to those evaluations where really it was like showing my own inadequacies. Now I have more to say, and I pay better attention to what my students need. As I write down how my students have progressed in comparison to seven months ago, I get to note how I have progressed, too, and while it's still a novel concept... I'm quite proud of myself.

On a side note, I'm watching Moonstruck and Cher just walked into the Cinderella Hair Shop--and I go to the Cinderella Hair Shop here!