FIVE GREAT LESSONS

1 - Most Important Lesson

During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. "Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say 'hello'." I've never forgotten that lesson. I've also never forgotten her name was Dorothy.

2 - Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain

One night, at 11:30 PM, an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rain storm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxi cab. She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home A special note was attached. It read: "Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away. God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others." Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.

3 - Third Important Lesson - Always remember those who serve.

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked. "Fifty cents," replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it. "Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. "Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied." The little boy again counted his coins. "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies. - You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.

4 - Fourth Important Lesson - The Obstacle in Our Path

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand. Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

5 - Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save her." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?" Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.

 "Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt and dance like you do when nobody's watching!

Julia's current version: "I work only because I need the money (in the speed of light i would quit otherwise), I'm scared to love because I always get hurt (but John's showing me how to trust and love), and I never dance like I do when no one's watching because I'm too self-conscious (if you saw me the way i dance when i'm alone, i think you'd loose 5 pounds from laughing...and then you'd pass out from lack of oxygen)"

i will make a conscious effort to live out that quote.

wait a minute. hey! i could do all in one!  happily and eagerly teach while loving each and every one of my students and dancing wildly before them.

if only.

actually, this semester is drastically different from last. for one, i'm sleeping about 6 hours a night...thats about 2 extra hours every night compared to last semester! i leave school before 3:30 now. i actually use my lunch time to clean and pack up my room and my stuff.

don't get me wrong - i actually have double the work that i had last semester. i created 4 math groups because of the different levels (they're at 4 different chapters so i jump from group to group...its insane), we have like 4 standardized tests coming up, culmination, spring festival, technology fair, 2 reporting periods, open house, 1 week of parent conferences, weekly art meetings after school (WHO KNOWS WHY), i have my stulls, i have to be observed/videotaped, i have a play, i have to stop this because honestly, i'll fill this entire page.

but guess what? i think my kids are starting to like to read (or so they say). i have tons of books in my room but i think about 3 kids read them last semester. honestly. about 3 of my 150+ books were read last year. after all the stankin work i did. i tried EVERYTHING last semester to get them to read. but all they did was watch novelas (spanish soap operas) and sponge bob square pants.

go figure.

well, now i've changed it.  i'm spending a lot more classroom time on reading, about 35-40 minutes a day. i read aloud to them EVERY DAY (really fun picture books that took me hours to find - but i use reading comprehension strategies that they're supposed to apply to advanced books) and i give them 15 minutes of silent reading where they can go ANYWHERE they want in the room and read. it was funny cause i was in one back corner reading and i guess this teacher walked by my open door and didn't see me, but only saw children lying under desks, sprawled out all over the floor, and leaning on desks. she looked like, "what the heck is going on here! where's your teacher!" but as she stood there in shock, she saw me in the corner reading and i just smiled at her. i think that's when she got the idea (seeing that each kid was SILENT and reading) that it was a "controlled" chaos.

it makes me smile cause a lot of the kids go to "my" area - the high chair where i sit sometimes, my desk, my overhead seat. then i have to go sit somewhere else.

so yeah. compared to the 3 kids who read my books last year, currently, ALL 28 (one moved to texas) are reading my books. 8 have already started their second one! (keep in mind that this is like 300% more participation than last semester)

my favorite quote that i've been hearing at least once every day -

"Miss Kim! I never knew reading could be so fun!"

here's a funny one (that i agree with and that i actually told my own 9th grade teacher when i was in high school):

"Miss Kim, how come teachers seem to choose all the boring books to teach from when there are books like this [referring to the book from my library] that are fun?"

i'm beginning to look at the big picture. i'm not too stressed and worried about my teaching. i have a broader goal - i just want to be a good influence. i want to take my kids to a better, more stable place in life. why, you ask?

i assigned a family tree/chart this monday cause we're on a heritage unit. do you know what i forgot? that ALL but like 4 of my students come from broken families. (the sad thing is, one of the four "normal" family's - her parents separated in september, but got back together in november, separated again in early december, and now they're together again. the girl is EMOTIONALLY UNSTABLE. she's the sweetest thing, and then she turns into she-devil and has this CRAAAAZY attitude problem.)

"Miss Kim? What if my mom was married before and then she didn't live with him and then i have a half-brother from another man, and a sister but we're not related, and now i don't live with my dad but i like my new dad? how do i show that on my family tree?"

"Miss Kim? How do i chart my dad's parents? my grandpa had 4 women that he had children with and i'm close to all of them"

"Miss Kim, my mom's not married and neither are any of my aunts but i have a lot of cousins and different brothers and sisters"

"Miss Kim, i have 4 dads. how do i chart that?"

"Which dad should i chart? ok. hmm, now which mom should i chart?"

"Miss Kim, i don't have room. my grandma had 21 brothers and sisters, and i have 3 grandmas too"

"All my brothers and sisters have different dads. do i have to chart all of them?"

i went from student to student to student. it was supposed to be a 20 minute activity. it turned into a 3 day activity. instead of using 8.5x11 paper, we're onto 18x22.

i have a lot to learn.