The Pyrenees---Southern France

The Pyrenees---Southern France

Friday, October 4, 2013

This is Why I Teach

       A few days ago I got an email from a former student. Kendra had been in my 4th grade class; now she's a freshman in college. It's been years...

     Most people think teachers remember the "challenging" students the most--the kids who made them buy hair dye every six weeks every month every afternoon. Perhaps some educators do dwell more on the tougher-nuts-to-crack than the rest of their students. In my opinion, though, something happens in the classroom that's similar to what happens when a woman gives birth: some magical liquid courses through her body, ensuring she does not remember the excruciating pain and thus rendering her willing to have another child somewhere down the road.

      Teaching is like that. Full of expectations. Exciting. Sometimes painful. And the changes that happen to your body are downright horrifying...The students who never leave my head or my heart are the gifted writers, the kids who overcome incredible obstacles, the students who are exemplary role models...The tough times shed away, leaving me excited about each new school year.

        Kendra was in my 4th grade class the year I did a research project with the National Writing Project. Even at the age of 10, she wrote stuff that had such depth, and yet it seemed to be effortless for her.

        She's beginning a nursing program. I only hope she makes the time to continue writing...

         What friend or colleague has recently contacted you, like a blast from the past? Tell, please.

26 comments:

  1. The only one I can think of is a former flame who surfaced again. I got an apology out of the blue, years after the fact.

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  2. Shay--An apology...Was that a good thing, or was it just like having a scab picked off?

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  3. Just last week someone repeated that a former student had told her that I was her best teacher, that I had hooked her on reading and writing, that she still has a book I gave her in her freshman year. It was nice to hear. I worked SO hard to get my students to love reading, not just do it.

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    1. Claudia--Those kinds of stories make the low pay (per hour, once you factor in all the time you put in at home) and the aggravation and the piles of paperwork worth it...

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  4. How neat that she was thinking of you and took the time to give you an update.

    My latest friend request was from one of the girls that my Mom grew up with in their Mayfair neighborhood. I don't know her, but I know that she will enjoy the pictures of the old days.

    Hope that you have a great week, Sioux.

    Kathy M.

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  5. Kathy--How cool...you can re-remember your mother's childhood.

    Back at you--have a super week.

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  6. I have but one blood family member left in California, as cousins we grew up there. We began a facebook friendship and he has read some of my publications. He expressed that I am a very good writer - and seemed quite surprised by that! lol
    We are the same age and have a lot of common interests. I wanted him to represent me at the book launch in Berkeley (not far from where he lives) since I couldn't swing the trip. The book is Times They Were A'Changing: stories by women who remember the 60's & 70's. But he was unable to go. (Or maybe it was the throngs of middle-aged old hippie chicks that put him off?)

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    1. Marcia--I'm sure your cousin was really chompin' at the bit to represent you, but had a previous engagement.

      Yeah, that's the ticket.

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  7. Blast from the past...let's see. There was that ex-student I ran into on the Walmart parking lot. Not literally. There was my ex-teaching buddy Mabel I met up with on Wednesday. There was the the ex-student working in the convenience store last evening who treated me like a rock star. There was that former boyfriend I read about who's an author of a fishing book. But the most surprising was when I picked up the local paper two weeks ago and saw a guy I graduated with who had self-published a science fiction/local history novel. Who knew he was a writer? The backwoods are crawlin' with 'em, it seems. Those last two haven't contacted me, thank goodness, but it was good to see what they're up to. Just in case they're after my crown for using prepositions to end sentences with.

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    1. Val--You are a magnet for weirdos AND you apparently also attract people from your past.

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  8. Unfortunately, every update I've ever received about a former student has been heartbreaking.

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  9. Mama Zen--That is unfortunate. However, the ones you don't hear from/about...I'm sure there are some uplifting/positive stories about them. (At least I hope so.)

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  10. What a sweet story about your former student. You never know how far the ripples you create will reach.

    Pat
    Critter Alley

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    1. Pat--I meant to add that I don't think Kendra knew how much she had made my day...

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  11. I'm with Mama Zen. Just recently stumbled across a sad one. That's why your story was all the more uplifting.

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    1. Tammy--I imagine that IS the case with you. You work with the older kids. Sadly, bigger kids = bigger, more serious problems...

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  12. Sioux! It's Kelsey Rettke--from writing camp way back when! I've been looking for you for ages. I googled your name and this wonderful wonderful blog about writing came up. You haven't changed a bit. :) I love it.

    I love that you're ever the writer. Me, too--currently a Junior at Beloit College in Beloit, WI doing a double major in Creative Writing and History (American) with a minor in Journalism. I still write every day and so often credit you and Mrs. Murray and the wonderful 5 summers I spent at Little Creek for Writing Camp. I will never ever forget it. I would so love to catch up with you! My email is eyeluvsg1@yahoo.com or rettkek@beloit.edu. I hope you're well and life is treating you fabulously!

    I actually have a blog, too--if you ever have the time/inclination, I would so love it if you would head on over to "A Writer's Life for Me" on wordpress and check out my (2nd) blog. It's still getting off it's feet--a work in progress!

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    1. Kelsey--I guess if I did facebook, I might have lots of encounters like this but sadly, I don't have the time or the inclination...

      Yes, the summers Mrs. Murray and I spent with you and the other writers prodded me to not just walk the walk but to also talk the talk. I belong to a fabulous writing critique group (which is also a fabulously funny group of writers). I will try to find your blog (but my tech skills are pathetic). However, I DO know how to email...

      It was great to hear from you. I don't know where Beloit is, but I spent a lovely vacation in Madison, and fell in love with the area.

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  13. P.s. Wow--Kendra! A nurse! That's great. Good for her. I miss her and all the other friends from Writing Camp. :)

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  14. Cool story - probably a CS or something...

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    1. Lynn--Thanks. I'm not sure it's CS material, but it IS fun to hear from people I haven't talked to in years...

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  15. Makes it all worthwhile doesn't it? I hear from several of my former students who are now successful adults. Some of the teens forget that Ms Linda reads facebook posts and isn't afraid to call them on their language. My best visit was when a shy girl, then in highschool came to visit and told me that I had inspired her to study journalism; she wanted to be a writer because of all the storiea they had to dictate in preschool.

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    1. And that is probably one of the reasons why YOU teach, Linda. That's a heartwarming story...

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  16. Alas no blast from the past in the last year or so, but over the last 3-5 years I've heard from two high school boyfriends (one just curious and the other apologizing for something---after 30 years!---that I didn't remember or give a second thought to). It was kind of interesting.

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    1. Lisa--They say that curiosity killed the cat.

      I guess not. ;)

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Thanks for your comments. I appreciate you taking the time to stop by...