Ga Vacation Day 7
I think every teacher will admit that he/she has favorite students every year. I know you aren't supposed to, but teachers are human and it happens.
I was fortunate enough to feel that way about most of my classes at Bethesda. But one particular class stands out for me. When I returned to Bethesda after teaching in Atlanta in 2003, I had a seventh grade homeroom. One of my goals from the get go with this group was to somehow meld us into a family. I wanted my boys to watch out for each other and have fun together. I wanted to shepherd them through the process of choosing friends and how to nurture those relationships. I wanted them to learn how to socialize in a comfortable environment. In an attempt to do this, I cooked for them. We took lots of field trips. We talked a lot. We worked a lot. We didn't always like each other, but I think we did bond.
I taught this particular group in 7 and 8th grade. The next year, I moved into an administrative position, but saw them in the hallways everyday, and was still able to keep tabs on them and make sure their noses were clean. Then my position was cut and I returned to the classroom. This time I had them as 10th graders. We picked up right where we left off. They were bigger, but they were still mine.
I met Dev that year and eventually left Bethesda to move to Colorado. It was a tough decision.
This last spring my little family graduated from high school. I can't tell you how proud I was of them. I didn't get to come home to watch them walk, but in my heart I was there.
Everytime I come home, I always let them know I'm coming and we try to get together for dinner or lunch.
On Monday, we met Jason, one of my students, at the Jalapeno's in Sandfly for lunch. He has grown into such a great young person. He told me he is planning on going into the nursing field and is enrolled in college for fall semester. I felt such a great sense of pride and relief. He is going to make a wonderful nurse, and I'd like to think I played a small part in helping him have the confidence to set goals and meet them. I hope he keeps in touch and lets me know how he's doing.
After lunch we did a little shoe shopping for Dev. I should say we went shoe visiting. Dev has this thing about shopping. If he needs a pair of shoes, he'll go everywhere in town looking at them. If he finds them, he leaves them there and goes back to visit them about 12 times before he finally decides to buy them. Most of the time, he's waited so long- they aren't there anymore and the whole process starts over. Welcome to my hell!
We bummed around with Di for a while. She gave me a shirt she and Suz had picked out for me (it's nice to have a friend who gets an employee discount at Belk!). It is a great shirt! For some reason, I can't pick clothes out for myself. The stuff Di picks out for me always looks better. Why is that??
For dinner that night, Di used the crab we had leftover from the quesadillas to make crab cakes. She served them with frozen spanikopita and we had mini eclairs for dessert! What a great dinner. Di makes the best crab cakes ever!
After dinner Dev and I left to go to WalMart in search of a beach umbrella and some spray Benadryl for the 4,000 mosquito bites I had after just a few days home. We found the Benadryl, but they didn't have any beach umbrellas. How could that be? How does a WalMart in Savannah in July not have beach umbrellas?? This should be against the law. Oh well- I would just have to baste myself in spf 70 every ten minutes at the beach the next day...
I was fortunate enough to feel that way about most of my classes at Bethesda. But one particular class stands out for me. When I returned to Bethesda after teaching in Atlanta in 2003, I had a seventh grade homeroom. One of my goals from the get go with this group was to somehow meld us into a family. I wanted my boys to watch out for each other and have fun together. I wanted to shepherd them through the process of choosing friends and how to nurture those relationships. I wanted them to learn how to socialize in a comfortable environment. In an attempt to do this, I cooked for them. We took lots of field trips. We talked a lot. We worked a lot. We didn't always like each other, but I think we did bond.
I taught this particular group in 7 and 8th grade. The next year, I moved into an administrative position, but saw them in the hallways everyday, and was still able to keep tabs on them and make sure their noses were clean. Then my position was cut and I returned to the classroom. This time I had them as 10th graders. We picked up right where we left off. They were bigger, but they were still mine.
I met Dev that year and eventually left Bethesda to move to Colorado. It was a tough decision.
This last spring my little family graduated from high school. I can't tell you how proud I was of them. I didn't get to come home to watch them walk, but in my heart I was there.
Everytime I come home, I always let them know I'm coming and we try to get together for dinner or lunch.
On Monday, we met Jason, one of my students, at the Jalapeno's in Sandfly for lunch. He has grown into such a great young person. He told me he is planning on going into the nursing field and is enrolled in college for fall semester. I felt such a great sense of pride and relief. He is going to make a wonderful nurse, and I'd like to think I played a small part in helping him have the confidence to set goals and meet them. I hope he keeps in touch and lets me know how he's doing.
After lunch we did a little shoe shopping for Dev. I should say we went shoe visiting. Dev has this thing about shopping. If he needs a pair of shoes, he'll go everywhere in town looking at them. If he finds them, he leaves them there and goes back to visit them about 12 times before he finally decides to buy them. Most of the time, he's waited so long- they aren't there anymore and the whole process starts over. Welcome to my hell!
We bummed around with Di for a while. She gave me a shirt she and Suz had picked out for me (it's nice to have a friend who gets an employee discount at Belk!). It is a great shirt! For some reason, I can't pick clothes out for myself. The stuff Di picks out for me always looks better. Why is that??
For dinner that night, Di used the crab we had leftover from the quesadillas to make crab cakes. She served them with frozen spanikopita and we had mini eclairs for dessert! What a great dinner. Di makes the best crab cakes ever!
After dinner Dev and I left to go to WalMart in search of a beach umbrella and some spray Benadryl for the 4,000 mosquito bites I had after just a few days home. We found the Benadryl, but they didn't have any beach umbrellas. How could that be? How does a WalMart in Savannah in July not have beach umbrellas?? This should be against the law. Oh well- I would just have to baste myself in spf 70 every ten minutes at the beach the next day...
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