Great Day @ Work

A great law professor once told me, you are one of the five percent of the population that gets to do exactly what "You want for a living." It's true, I get to decide what I'm going to do. I could be a half decent carpenter, or a bad lawyer, or a terrible engineer, or a really terrible mid-level compliance coordinator. If I applied myself more, I could have been a bad doctor for a while.
I was born with the means and ability to pass almost any test, and if I showed the aptitude, my parents would have supported me going in any direction. Luckily, I ended up teaching.

On a good day, I turn young men and women into good adults. On a bad day, I discourage people from trying new things and growing. Today was a good day.

I rate my classes by the amount of respect that they show me and the subject. The most brilliant professor I ever met told me that showing a love and respect for your subject is the most important thing. If you want students to love Shakespeare, than love Shakespeare and love your students, and pretty soon, you'll all get along swimmingly.

My mother taught Shakespeare for a while, and people in my town still talk about how she taught them to love Shakespeare. Someday, she'll write a book about it, and I will be the first to buy that book and will be twice the teacher I am today. She is blessed with a love for everyone, but most of all, she has a love of the underdog. She once told me that my ability to include everyone is a gift. I got that gift from her.

Like all good Irish boys, I know my mother is a living saint. She taught me respect by showing respect to everyone we met. In return, she is one of the most respected people I have met. I apologize if this post seems like a eulogy to a living person, it's just I'm such a Mama's boy. I'm here to talk about work today.

Progress reports came out this week for all of my students, and many of them weren't perfect. Some students found out they won't be graduating when they had planned. Prom plans were dashed, athletic dreams crumbled, and many of us walked away with more disappointment than optimism. As a high school student, I remember my fifth grade teacher dumping my disorganized desk in front of the class. I remember the parent conferences, and the despair and hopelessness I felt when I realized just how bad of a student I actually was.

I saw this in my students today, and I didn't feel shame over lost opportunities, I didn't feel we had failed at anything, we found a new starting point. I spent most of my day writing emails to other teachers asking where specifically we would build this student from this point on. I asked about strengths and weaknesses, and what could the student do to get the grade up. I felt hope and optimism as I hounded fifty other teachers for answers.

The students looked guilty as they read over the reports. "I could have done..." "I should have done..." "Next time I will..." They had the lines rehearsed before I even asked the question about what happened or what they would differently if given the chance. I let them know that what happened was in the past. The ten missing math homework assignments or the 46% test average were not what we dwelled on, we started with the positive and built around that.

I emailed each parent and let them know each grade, the cause of the grade, and the concrete step we would take in the future. I remember the guilt of constantly losing my assignment notebook. The inability and unwillingness to complete most homework assignments. I never completed an assignment for a teacher I didn't respect. So that's where we started today, understanding and respect. Even surrounded by temporary failure, it seemed like a great day.

The grades weren't what we wanted, but we still showed respect and reverence for ourselves, our subjects and each other, and it seemed like our most successful day yet.