Earlier this week, my students and I discussed things that we are thankful for, and we decided that the list could just go on and on. Since moving to Nicaragua, my list has shifted and changed some. Things that I never thought much of have more meaning here, at least for me. When it is sweltering hot, ceiling fans are at the top of my thankful list. Seeing dozens of people packed like sardines into a school bus on their morning commute makes me very thankful not to just own a car, but a car that works well. I can't tell you how many times I am thankful for indoor plumbing and sturdy roofs as I drive the Managua roads and see the houses that line the streets. And although I dread waking up early in the morning (5:30 - gasp!), I am thankful that I get to wake up and go to a job that I not only enjoy, but that I love and look forward to. What is better than teaching about God's faithfulness or showing how to multiply double digits or teaching a rhyme to remember helping verbs?
As I talked with a parent earlier this week, I became very thankful that teaching can plant seeds that later blossom. Last year I had a student who was very bright, but not very committed. He was a good reader, but didn't enjoy it and only read non-fiction. One of my goals last year was to get this student to love reading. As a teacher, I recommended book after book that I thought he would like. I tried everything, but nothing worked. At the end of the year, his enthusiasm for reading was not there. I remember on the last day of school his mom wanted to take a picture of the two of us, and it was obviously a torturous event for him. Now the student is in 5th grade. Just about every morning he says hi to me, and a couple of times a month he wanders into my room during recess when I am grading papers. He asks me what the 4th graders are learning, what book I am reading, and walks out. We recently started a new reading program at NCA, and since then, he is in my room all the time, asking for book recommendations and checking out my classroom library. I didn't think of it much until his mom stopped and talked to me the other day. She said all of a sudden her child loves reading. She knows of all the encouragement I gave her son last year and is so excited to see him excited about reading. While I am not his current teacher and probably don't have much to do with his current love of reading, I am glad that teaching can plant seeds. He didn't love to read last year, but now he does. His mom said he talks about my class and says he misses 4th grade. His parents invited me and some other teachers over for Thanksgiving dinner, and the student gave me a hug! What a difference from last year. As a teacher, I am thankful that something stuck and for seeing the growth of a student.
My students have a lot to be thankful for as well, and I want to share some of those things with you:
Happy Thanksgiving from my students and me!
Psalm 106:1
Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Tell your students that your daddy was very impressed, and very moved by their "themes".
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