The one thing that has been constant during this last month has been my students. Somehow they always manage to put a smile on my face, even when I am really feeling down. I have been working for the last 5 months to inspire them to "reach for the stars" and work hard to become the best person they can be. However, it is my students, and not me, who have been doing the inspiring this month.
Allow me to share with you the writing of one of my oldest student. This passage is from his writing section of the December monthly exam. The question was:
Write 12-15 Sentences about your favorite celebrity. Write about who they are, why they are famous, when they became famous, etc. Also tell me if you would, one day, like to become famous. What would you like to be famous for?
Here is the response:
My favorite celebrity is Plato. Plato is my hero. He is the person that I studied about twice in three different courses. He is a famous philosopher with many great theories. He became very famous for his theories and most of them work very well in the real society. One of his famous theories is Plato's Cave. This theory became well know and popular in many societies. I think he is the greatest person in the Greek period. I believe he was doing well to help other Greek people of that time.
If one day I become famous, I want to be popular in economics of political theory. The reason is that it may help a lot for development and peace in the world. Also, many students will know my name as well as they know Plato.
When I read this to grade it only one thought came through my head: "Holy Crap." Here I was expecting to read a passage about a Cambodian pop singer or Psy (the singer of the popular song Gangam style) and instead received an incredibly well written piece on Plato.
Inspiring.
Here is a list of words I received from a 15 year old student who asked me this:
"Teacher Ian, I was doing some extra reading and don't know how to make sentences with these words. Can you help me?"
- California
- Tan
- Connect
- Hanging
- Advertisements
- Success
- Portray
- Image
- Afford
- Relax
- Seek
- Promote
- Expose
- Local
After writing sentences and going over the words with her I thought I was done. Later that day I received a note that said:
"Dear Teacher Ian,
Thank you for helping me with my new words. Learning them will help me have better success in the future. You are a great teacher!
Love,
(name omitted)"
Inspiring.
While visiting a students house during our bi-yearly site visits (read last post for more information) I was informed that one of my older students voluntarily uses his stipend from TGC to pay for his younger brothers education. His mother never asked him. His father never asked him. His brother didn't even ask him. He just does it. No one recognizes him for using the small amount of money he receives every week to pay for books, pencils, notebooks and school fees for another family member. Instead, he simply made a decision, as a 16 year old teenager, to put his brother through school. Even if that means he can't spend money on himself.
Inspiring.
Sometimes, when things get dark, you need to focus to see the light. Luckily for me, I have 23 shinning lights that help me get through those darker days. It is them, not me, who are the inspiring ones.
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| Santa Claus came to town, and DJ'd all night long... |
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