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Wk 4 Reflection on Reading
Chapter 12 spoke volumes to me. When considering myself and the road I have traveled, I sometimes forget to realize the affect I have on others. Has there been a time where I have had the pleasure of lifting a teammate, student, or stranger up enabling them to realize their dreams and exceed anything that you could have imagined? I HOPE SO! I hope I am positive to my team every day of the week. One circumstance where I looked outside of myself to uplift a colleague was with a para-professional. She is fantastic para. She has the presence of a teacher in the classroom. When she comes into the room, with a one-minute prep, she could co-teach the classroom. She is one in a million in the realm of para-professionals. One day I asked her if she had every considered being a teacher. She looked at me like that thought had never entered her brain. After explaining to her how wonderful she is with the students and in the classroom, she opened up to me about a disappointment she had had when trying to get her degree in education. She had gotten pregnant with her now 20 year old daughter and never thought she could be a mom and finish a degree. Life got crazy, but now is settling down again. I told her about how universities are trying to make degrees more accessible to older students and gave her a couple universities to look into. A couple weeks went by. She surprised me one day by saying she signed up for an art class to go towards her general requirements. I was so happy. She told me that I had been the bug in her ear. She needed to get back to her passion. She loves kids. Anyone could see that. It was all about honesty and appreciation.
Wow, I thought working with some of my students was an upstream battle…your situation sounds very challenging! I know what you mean about the blame game, as it is a natural and gives superficial satisfaction. It’s just like when people talk about how horrible the situations in government are, but they don’t vote. When teachers give an overarching generalization that the students have previously caused other instructors to leave, of course that attitude is going to seep into their teaching style, attitude, assessment style, and even perceived by the students (giving strength and mal-placed reinforcement to their “accomplishment”). I liked your analogy of these students in need to sparks on your game-board. I mean, even if we have 100 students that still continue to fail, what if one passes and improves their lives because of us? Doesn’t that make everything else worth it? Like you pointed out, if we have the choice to be negative or positive, why not at least try to “keep our board in the positive” (or in your words—“refreshing fountain of encouragement” ☺ ). You are right, the Art of Possibility is a constant source of growth, not something we can master all in one day.
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