Learning from my students:

Being in my third year of teaching, I have learned more about being a teacher from actually being a teacher, then when I was in school studying it.  I have learned from my fellow teachers and from actually being in the class.   I still have a lot to learn, but I know that I am a much better teacher starting in my third year than I was when I originally started.  What I did not expect was how much I have learned from students in these past few years.  

I will be honest when I say I have been a bit frustrated and a bit disgruntled when it comes to teaching recently.  I feel like I have been working very hard, and every day there is some problem that comes up that demands my attention, or I have had comments made at me that have discouraged and brought me down.  I am having moments where I am feeling burnt out. However, there are always those moments as a teacher that can lift my spirit and remind me of the reasons that I love to teach.  Those are again the moments when I have a good relationship with kids and I can see that they have a heart to learn both about how to be better people and about the subject that I teach, which is Spanish.  

There have been many moments as a person who teaches Spanish where I have learned from students who grew up speaking Spanish about different words or different ways they say things.  They are always wonderful to have in the classroom, so I have the opportunity to learn from them.  It can be hard because I know that I am supposed to be the teacher, so therefore I am supposed to be the person who knows everything.  However, I am very aware that I don’t have all the answers.  When a kid knows a word or two that I don’t, or there is a phrase that their family uses in Spanish that I don’t use, it is just more information that I can gain and teach to future students.  

A big portion of my job in teaching is helping my students become better people.  Sadly, there are many times when I have to get upset at incorrect or wrong behavior, and I need to remind the students to be kind, hard-working, and thoughtful.  However, there are moments in teaching (that would be considered the best moments) when students prove to me just how kind and thoughtful they really can be.  Recently I was at a volleyball game, and I saw a woman who was struggling to get up the bleachers.  I didn’t know exactly how to help her, and I was a bit frozen for a second. Then I saw one of my students offer to help the woman up the bleachers by giving her a hand that could support her on the way up.  This then inspired me to do the same. I also reached out my hand in order to help this older woman.    

This really reminded me of the verse, 1 Timothy 4:12, which says, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”  There are many times that we can look at those who are younger than us or children as people who can’t inspire us or who can’t do as important of things as those who are adults.  However, that is not true in the slightest.  There are many moments that children can show us what it means to be good friends, good sons and daughters, and good learners because that is what they are expected to be.  When we can get to be adults, we may leave behind the idea that we need to be good at any of those things, because we have moved on to a new stage of life.

The Lord has always seen children as important to the kingdom of God.  He knows that they can look at things brightly and can be extra really good listeners to the Lord. Because of this, he would often talk to the children and use them as examples in his stories.  He was the best at spending time with children when many of his followers didn’t want to listen to them.  My challenge then for myself and for all of you this week is to spend some time listening to a child that you are near.  This could be like me with your students, it could be your own children, or it could be just some children that you are around on a regular basis.  See what they may have to say.  See what they are thinking and the kind items that they have done for others.  Then if you are a child or someone who is younger reading this, my challenge for you is to not be afraid to be an inspiration.  It can feel intimidating when you are a younger person, but there are many people who can be inspired by what you do and say.