A little bit of procrastination . . . a little reflection

In law school I used to write posts on Frodo's Dogster page when I was supposed to be studying for finals. Frodo is over rainbow bridge now, and Oliver isn't the literary type (he's more of a fluff-head), but fortunately I have my own blog for procrastination.

It's not exactly finals, but this is a hectic time of year for student teachers. I had my last college class last week, but didn't quite manage to get my homework completed over my too-short winter break. (I turned my Teacher Work Sample in today.) I had a rough week at school last week; I was battling a cold in my throat and lungs, the more hoarse my voice and the more plugged my ears, the louder my students seemed to talk, and the more I struggled to get my classroom under control. I wasn't a very happy camper. But at the end of a long day on Friday, Michael took me out for dinner, and I reflected back on the week. I realized that while I had had a very rough week, all of the students in my classes are good kids. There isn't a single kid who I teach at Ripon High School who is not a good person. Sure, they're a little louder than I'd like sometimes, but they are smart, kind, intelligent people, and I wish them all wonderful, happy lives.

Today, I asked one section of students to write a paragraph reflecting on a regret that they have had in their lives. We were about to read a play about regret, and I wanted to get their brain juices flowing.

The paragraphs I received astounded me. Sure, I got one smart-a$$ kid who wrote that he regretted coming to class today because this was the worst assignment ever. He assured me that at least three other students would write the same thing in their paragraphs. But they didn't. Every other student, out of a class of 26, reflected on something that they had done, and wished they could redo differently. Some students wrote what I expected to read - stories about trusting the wrong people, and friendships and romances gone awry.

Other students took this assignment to an entirely different level. I read about negative attitudes towards school that have now hurt students' opportunities to get college scholarships, run-ins with the law that led to community service and jail time, drug abuse that caused serious friendship troubles, and family troubles that began with a pair of young, innocent brothers playing in a cornfield, and ended with a scarred arm, a fatal accident, and an alcoholic father.

I am so moved by the fact that my students feel comfortable enough in my classroom to be completely honest with me on assignments like this. I tried to write a little motivational sentence or two at the bottom of each paragraph, encouraging my students to continue learning from their experiences, but what can you say to the student who thinks he caused his father to become an alcoholic because he followed his older brother into the field that day?