Winter break begins
I'm now down in Rock Hill, SC, to spend Christmas with my dad and wicked stepmother. She liked my reduced beard, too. So there! She also said it looks better in person?
When we got back to the house I spent some quality time with the cat. Dad's cat, Cooper, has never really made my cat allergy act up that much. Mom's cats (or at least one of them) make my nose run nonstop, as do Ron's, and... well, a lot of them. But not Cooper.
Today was the last day of school for Metro before their break. I'd sort of forgotten that high school students sometimes give gifts to their teachers, so it was a nice surprise to get a card from one and some chocolates from another.
Although Metro has a pretty capable student population (being a STEM magnet school and all), it still has plenty of students who are nearly impossible to convince to do any work. There are of course a wide variety of reasons that a student might not be doing any work. But in thinking about it -- and especially one particular student who was kicked out for it, and who I know has a very bad home life -- I remembered a story from a This American Life episode about a troubled student. It took me a couple months before I was able to relocate it in their archives... but it's the last story in the episode "By Proxy". It's a rather good episode overall. The last story is about this student, his best friend, and one of his old teachers. I think it stuck with me after the first time I heard it because it gives me a little hope that I may be able to help people without even knowing it, but it also makes me feel bad that I don't try harder. I wanted to put myself out there a little to try to help this student who left, but I didn't grab the opportunity and then he was gone sooner than I expected. I never got to find out whether he'd blow it off or if I could have helped him in some way. I don't want kids to slip away like that.
Anyway, like I said, good episode, especially that story. Thematically, it's about telling people that they matter to you, and how even very small gestures can carry tremendous meaning for the recipient. It got me choked up. But then again, I'm a huge sap, so your milage may vary.
When we got back to the house I spent some quality time with the cat. Dad's cat, Cooper, has never really made my cat allergy act up that much. Mom's cats (or at least one of them) make my nose run nonstop, as do Ron's, and... well, a lot of them. But not Cooper.
Today was the last day of school for Metro before their break. I'd sort of forgotten that high school students sometimes give gifts to their teachers, so it was a nice surprise to get a card from one and some chocolates from another.
Although Metro has a pretty capable student population (being a STEM magnet school and all), it still has plenty of students who are nearly impossible to convince to do any work. There are of course a wide variety of reasons that a student might not be doing any work. But in thinking about it -- and especially one particular student who was kicked out for it, and who I know has a very bad home life -- I remembered a story from a This American Life episode about a troubled student. It took me a couple months before I was able to relocate it in their archives... but it's the last story in the episode "By Proxy". It's a rather good episode overall. The last story is about this student, his best friend, and one of his old teachers. I think it stuck with me after the first time I heard it because it gives me a little hope that I may be able to help people without even knowing it, but it also makes me feel bad that I don't try harder. I wanted to put myself out there a little to try to help this student who left, but I didn't grab the opportunity and then he was gone sooner than I expected. I never got to find out whether he'd blow it off or if I could have helped him in some way. I don't want kids to slip away like that.
Anyway, like I said, good episode, especially that story. Thematically, it's about telling people that they matter to you, and how even very small gestures can carry tremendous meaning for the recipient. It got me choked up. But then again, I'm a huge sap, so your milage may vary.