constantly amazed

As the school year comes to an end, I have to post about the amazement I feel each day.  The first thing that amazes me is how much my students give to their education.  Sure, I have students who don't care at all, but for the most part, my students want to learn and want to succeed.  I have seen this over and over again this past year.  Today was the last full day of school before graduation practice and graduation, and there were students in my room all day making sure that they had the grades they wanted, and some were making sure they would graduate.  One senior approached me in the hall, and he told me he was one-eighth of a credit away from graduating.  He wanted to know if I had any work he could do to make up that credit from 9th grade English.  I took him to my classroom, gave him a packet on Romeo and Juliet, and he finished the packet to make sure he could graduate.  He had told me previously that he would stay until midnight if he needed to since no other teachers were helping him out, and he would do any thing to make sure that he could graduate with his classmates on Thursday.  He returned later in the day just before I left to tell me he didn't need the work, and it was actually a different class he was short credit in.  Sometimes the counselors aren't clear on what students need to do; I felt bad that he had put in such effort for credit he didn't need, but I was proud of him for taking the initiative to do what he needed to do to graduate.

The second thing that amazes me is my own children.   Their dance festival was at their school today, and I was able to sneak away to see them dance.  When I approached my autistic son, he said, "How did you get here?"  I have been there every year to watch them dance, but they never expect me to be there.  They understand that I have a job, and they are very accepting of the fact that I can't always be with them because of my job.  They also amaze me because they work so hard to learn and succeed as well.  My eleven-year-old was worried the other day because she is getting a B+ in math, and she feels that she should not get anything below an A.  I reassured her that a B+ is more than okay, but I was proud of her for setting high expectations for herself.

The third thing that amazes me is how much parents care about their students.  Some almost care too much.  One parent waited until today (two days after my deadline for all work) to come in and argue with me about the fact that his son had an A-, and he should have an A.  I ended up in tears after the meeting, and I caved and excused his son from the assignment just to please the dad, but his son still had an A- in the end.  I was very frustrated that the whole situation had even happened, and I went so far as telling the administration that I don't want to teach the honors courses any more.  Of course, they reassured me that I am doing the right thing, and I am a good teacher, but it was still a crappy ordeal.  However, when it came down to it, the dad only came in because he cares.  He wants the best for his student, and he has high expectations for his children.  I only hope that the son appreciates all of the caring that has gone into his education this far, and that he doesn't rely on Dad to come in every time he has an A- to get him an A.

Anyway, there will always be amazing things in my profession, and I am sure that I will never cease to be amazed.  I am proud of my students, and I am glad that I am a teacher.  I love my job, and I wouldn't trade it for all the money in the world.