New
Teacher, Relatable Dreams
Hope
for enlightenment
Excitement
for the future
Directions
are given
Students
start their work
A
face looks up
“Miss,
I don’t understand…”
Finally
a chance to make a difference
A
quick answer, then a trip around the room.
Hoping
someone else needs help.
A
glance at the clock.
Now
only 5 minutes left.
The
mad dash to finish first.
Put
their homework away.
Run
to the door.
The
collective groan that they must
Remain
In
their seats can be heard
‘Round
the school.
Reminders
and loud voices
They
just want to leave.
And
all we want to do
Is
hope they walk away one ounce
More
enlightened.
Dear Lauren, 10/08/13
ReplyDeleteThank you for your poem about enlightenment. It has captured my own feelings towards students and reminds me of similar experiences that I have had. The hope and desire that they walk away with more than they came in with is relatable. It is so inspiring to know that there are many other teachers who are going through the same hopes of teaching as I am currently going through.
Sincerely,
Kelly
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this great poem! This truly reflects some of what goes through the mind of an educator in the classroom. Some students imply that school is a "means to an end" in their life, and the teacher feels so very different. We want students to take what we're teaching them and apply it to the rest of their life, and for the remainder of their life. Sometimes I look back and wish I would have stayed around my teachers and classrooms a little bit longer in high school. This poem gives me a sense of nostalgia, but I deeply enjoyed it!
Jake
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this wonderful, enlightening poem. This not only describes how we are feeling in the classroom, but how our students are feeling as well. I do understand about the look from the students when they do not understand. It is wonderful when students need your help in the classroom and actually ask for help. Unfortunately, there are the students that struggle and do not ask for help. I find those are the ones that have a hard time remaining in their seat at the end of the hour because they just want to "hide." Thank you again for your insight into the end of an hour.
Sincerely,
Mary
Dear Lauren,
ReplyDeleteThank you for “New Teacher, Relatable Dreams.” I appreciate your depiction of how seemingly different teachers’ and students’ aspirations are when it comes to in-class lessons. As you note, it often seems that students are in such a hurry to finish their work (“The mad dash to finish first. / Put their homework away. / Run to the door. / The collective groan …”), while the teacher anticipates and plans for thoughtful consideration of the day’s lesson, hoping that students will “ … walk away one ounce / More enlightened.” How do we get these very different goals to coalesce? That is something for us all to ponder. Thanks for encouraging us to do that, Lauren.
Katie