First Class

I'm sitting here in school with one hour and ten minutes left until Christmas break. Time is passing painfully slow. Not many students are here today for 2 reasons: it's the day before Christmas Eve and I don't even want to be here, and it's a Thursday, so over half the students are at their internships. Because I didn't sleep well last night and I really would rather be somewhere else, and only 2 of the students from my advisory are here, I've become a bit anti-social and have holed myself up in my advisory with only a few students who are watching a movie.

While today is rough and I'm tired, I must admit that life here at school is getting better. The students are slightly more invested and willing to learn. I have a better attitude and am less stressed. And most importantly, I am beginning to enjoy my students more. Several days in a row over the past few weeks I actually felt excited to come in and see my kids every day. As I am learning how to communicate with them in an effective, positive way, they are showing me more respect.

I feel like I am learning a lot about working with children. By the time God is done with me here I think I'll be ready to conquer all teenager-dome. But until that time comes, I need to continue to learn how to enjoy my job and my students. Even though they drive me nuts sometimes, they really are precious, individual, beautiful creations. I'm learning to see them through that lens, instead of just noticing all of their imperfections.

I have found that it does no good to yell at them. It does no good to show frustation in my tone of voice. Fighting back with them or allowing them to argue with me about an assignment or instruction does no good. Expecting them to do everything exactly as I ask is unrealistic.

What does work however, is realizing they all work in individual ways. It works much better to smile at them as they come in each morning, whether they are on time or late. It's more productive to always know exactly what action I want them to be doing, so that if conversation veers off in a bad direction I have a track to put them back onto. It's so much more enjoyable to let them share their thoughts briefly if something unrelated is on their minds, laugh with them at their stories, and acknowledge that they have a life outside of this place.

The break could not be coming sooner, and I don't think I'll miss them too much with only a week without them, but I do pray that when we get back with over half the school year to go that my advisory, First Class, can continue to grow in a positive way (and maybe, just maybe, they'll all wear their uniforms again:)