You know those days when you can't help but focus on one frustrating or idiotic thing that happened with your students? And sometimes you just want someone to vent to so that you can get it out of your system and move on?
I had one of those days yesterday. Without going into too much detail and getting myself worked up about it again, I'll just say that I was grading quizzes and became overwhelmingly frustrated at the few kids who had so obviously cheated. I'm usually a glass-half-full, look-on-the-bright-side kind of person, but I couldn't seem to let this one go. I figured it was fair - healthy, even - to give myself five minutes to vent before getting on with my day.
Anyways, my go-to person to hear my thoughts on this, agree with me, and then let me move on, was not answering her phone. So instead I called a friend who either didn't understand or completely ignored the fact that I didn't want advice or a solution; I just wanted to rant and move forward.
Instead, he challenged me.
He reminded me that they are just kids. He reminded me of the unfair home lives of so many of my students and all the things they are thinking about besides their math quiz. He reminded me that many of them don't trust adults because they have been let down by parents and families and teachers that were supposed to take care of them and have their best interests in mind.
He challenged me to really figure out why I was so upset. Was it because of the poor grades? Because of the apathy toward learning?
One of the hardest things for me to hear was when he told me that I am certain to have students who don't trust me yet. It hurts to think that's true. But I also felt like it put me in my place a little bit. Just like I am still getting to know these kids, they are getting to know me.
He really put things in perspective for me. What I expected to be a five-minute vent session about quizzes and cheating turned into a fifty-minute conversation about kids. And isn't that how it should be? It should always come back to the kids. That's why we do this.
It wasn't what I expected when I called this person, and it wasn't what I thought I wanted to hear, but our conversation was exactly what I needed in that moment.
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