AuburnChick's Adventures

I am blogging twice today.  This is the first of the two.

As a woman and blogger, that is my prerogative.

I have things on my heart that must be said.

Yesterday was a difficult day at school.

Despite the promising start, during which I showed my students the video I had put together…a compilation of the photographs I had taken throughout the year, set to Michael W. Smith’s Meant to Be and Time of Your Life (all classes LOVED their videos, by the way), my day quickly went downhill.

I won’t go into detail, but trust me.  It was bad.

The worst part was that none of it was my fault.

I was very angry most of the day.

Thus it was, with surprise, when my last period class entered my room.

One of my girls was returning to school after being suspended for a few days.

She and I have had our ups and downs, but she really turned a corner the last month or two, and our relationship had improved drastically.

When she came in, the first thing she said was, “Mrs. AuburnChick, I told my mama that I missed you and couldn’t wait to see you.”

I don’t know how I managed to keep my jaw from falling open.

Instead I grinned broadly.

I stood up as she came to my desk, and I enveloped her in a huge hug.

She hugged me back.

Then, she proceeded to present her project, an adorable book she’d written.  Later, during the movie I showed (because we have finished all of our work), she interjected demands that another student leave me alone (saying, “Why did you have to bother her all year?”).  This was her way of showing that she had my back.

She had, for the most part, all year, and could be counted on to stick up for me when things got tough, as they often did.

After school, I resumed my fuming session over the horrible part of my day…

Until I received an email from the above student’s mother.

Several emails flew back and forth, and I was able to share my positive observations about her daughter.

This mother hasn’t always been on my side this year; however, I think that she, too, came through in the end.  It was another relationship that had been healed.

When I reflect on my day, I thank the Lord for letting the day end on a positive note.

Despite the way I had acted today during my anger (that’s a post for another day), He still showed me grace and mercy that I did not deserve.

I was reminded that I derive my motivation from victories such as that with my student, and that I should not dwell on the negative things that happen.

It’s one of the biggest battles we teachers fight…frustration with petty stuff and the immense satisfaction from working with our children.

Filed under: Teaching | Tagged: education, teaching | 2 Comments »