Last school year began and it was the most low key and lackluster of my career. There were lots of reasons for this which I will not go into here. The year did not begin to turn around until well after Christmas. But when it did . . .
I did even more hands- on experiments (links will be here
later) and gained new momentum with classroom management which had never been
my strong suit. I usually keep class interesting enough and crowd control took
care of itself. Not with this group.
At the end of the year four students among several others
showed me how far we had come.
The first was getting ready to go for the last time and
other students were peeking in my classroom to see what was going on (not
unusual). She blurted out (also not unusual), “You need to take Mr. Banks class! It
is fun, but you are going to have to work.” That is one of the descriptions of
my class for which I have always longed.
Another student surprised me the day after my return from my
father’s funeral. I decided I wanted to honor my dad and to help students deal
with the death of a loved one. My sister prepared a slide show of highlights of
my dad’s life and ended with his prayer for meals that I had recorded on my
last visit with him. (I also prepared a blog in his memory.) I asked the students to write a letter to someone special
and give it to them. I did not read any of them I wanted them to say just what
they wanted to say without reservation or evaluation. It was amazing how much
time some to them spent.
And then there was the football player. We wrestled all year
long with his paying attention and with his not disrupting class. After much
struggle it got better. How much was revealed on the last day of class. The
lineman that out hulked me by several inches in all directions said, “Mr. B, I
want a hug.” In shock I gave him kind of
a sissy hug – I really did not know what to do. He repeated, “Mr. B, I want a
hug!” Then he proceeded to squeeze the blood out of me. I will be his biggest
supporter when he plays on Sunday one day.
A third student prepared a video for his final physics
project. I knew he was very intelligent and talented. This showed me just how
much.
At the end of the writing time a student came up to me and
handed me her letter.
+2.JPG)
Wow. I had no idea.
With these four send offs from last year and 22 full days of
professional development this summer, I am ready for the students to bring it
on. I have my A game. I hope they have theirs.
