What a day!! I got up early enough that I could be at the school by 6:30 am; yes, by my own will! I went early enough so I could practice singing because I haven't done it for quite some time! Eric, the band teacher, told me I was sounding really good! It was really sweet of him to say!
I then got to go help with registration at 7:00 and that was kind of fun! It was hard to hear the students say their last name so I had to keep asking them what it was . . . it made me feel really old! I experienced quite a bit of culture shock as well! The dress standards of these students is so different than anything I'm use to! Even in my high school, I feel like the "short-shorts" weren't as short as the ones these young ladies were wearing! Some of the t-shirts that the young men were wearing were completely inappropriate, and it was just a huge culture shock!
It also amazes me how open some of the students are about their personal lives! There were several shocking things that I learned, and it seriously blew my mind! As naive as this sounds, I had no idea that teen pregnancies were real! I've heard statistics, I have read stories, but it never really connected with me! And yet, as uncomfortable as I felt being pushed out of my comfort-zone it made me love and appreciate the students more. They are so different from me in beliefs and knowledge; I'm not just talking about secular knowledge like music, but spiritual knowledge! I have so many things that I can offer them, most importantly knowledge of who they can become!
Now, don't get me wrong. This isn't me preparing on giving them a sermon about who they are and who they can become. As a public school teacher, I'm not allowed to do that! :) But, by how I treat them and talk about them (whether they are there or not) I am showing them their potential! I am showing them how much I care and love them! I am showing them that they are important to me and that I am willing to serve them in any way possible! I don't think I've ever been so scared to be in such a different place before in my life (there's a gym that is part of our complex and I don't even feel safe walking there in the dark by myself! In Rexburg, I would have had no problem. Here, I literally drive my car down one hundred yards so I can go to the gym!)! And yet I know that this is where God needs me. I'm meant to touch these student's lives and they are meant to touch mine.
My philosophy is that I am not the only teacher in my classroom. We are all teachers and we are all students! I look forward to being a student in these classes and learning from my students this year! It's going to be a good one!
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