No Better Than They Are

With one week of instruction and finals remaining, I've become no better than my students. Attendance rate have grown lower, homework completion rates virtually nonexistent, attention spans shorter, overall interest in mathematics dangerously low, Likewise, my interest in teaching has disappeared, patience thinner, overall interest in my students' math success dangerously low. We all look towards summer, and we count the days til June 11th. I can't allow this however, I can't. Must. Activate. Passion. Interest. Care. Now.

We need to finish the year strong.

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And the last few days of instruction allow for straight talk, the type where teacher can be real with his students. I'd like to impart drops of knowledge I hope some will carry with them into the future. I want to explain why I've chosen to teach, what I hope for them, give 'em my advice, really let 'em know who I am and what I'm about before I bid them farewell when they leave my classroom for the last time. Cus there's no other time than now where I can do that. I maintain my mysteriousness for the majority of the year, only allowing kids to see certain sides of me. It's become part of my teacher creed. Can't share too much of myself otherwise they might take advantage of me. But sharing my story to students contributes to their overall growth the same way everything else does. I want my students to understand I'm more than just a teacher; likewise, they're more than just students. There's a time for play and a time for work. In the classroom, I've held my own & they've held theirs. They should know people juggle lives within one life on the regular just like they do. Even their teachers. Even this teacher.

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I realize these are mindless meanderings. I do know one thing for sure, I've failed on the blogging front these past few months - a front where I reflect and grow as a teacher more than anywhere else (dy/dan captures this thought here). I intend to get as much reflection in these final 9 days of school, regardless of how incoherent or disconnected the posts may be. Gotta start somewhere.