Good morning, God, and thank you for this new day in my life. It's a beautiful day so far, one that promises to be peaceful and relaxing. It's a nice kind of day to look forward to during this season of peace and hope and love, and this season of introspection and reverence.
Because it is Christmas, I like to think Christmas thoughts--I like to think about people caring for one another, people sharing what they have, people thinking about others and what they may want as gifts. I like to think about what life would be like if we had the same thoughts about others the entire year long, and if we were to think more about the people in our lives than we think about ourselves. What would the world be like if we considered the well-being of our fellow human beings before we thought about our own?
I know it's kind of a pipe dream, but it is a fascinating concept, isn't it? I know that the chances of such a thing happening in my lifetime--if it ever does happen with humans--is slim to none. But I also often wonder what I could do to help bring about such a state of affairs--if I can do anything at all. It would be nice to contribute to the positive side of the world, but can I do so? And if so, how?
This is only a short note, as I'm not really in the writing mood at the moment, but I do want to say thank you for this beautiful season, and thanks for all that I have--and thank you for a glimpse of how things could be if we were to keep Christmas in our hearts all year long, focusing on others and their needs rather than on ourselves and our own needs. I do appreciate this holiday season, and I love it very much.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Not caring
Good morning, God. Thanks for this new day--I hope that I'm able to make it a positive one in many ways, but we'll see what happens! I know that I have many opportunities in the coming hours to make something special of the day, but things don't always go as planned, or as hoped.
Yesterday was very frustrating at school. There are those days when some students are too much, when their lack of caring and their lack of effort just becomes overwhelming. It gets very frustrating being in a classroom with students who just don't want to work. I understand much more why teachers burn out so quickly and so badly--we face students who give no effort, and then we're blamed for the fact that they don't learn. It's pretty sad. And I understand that there are many factors that contribute to their problems, and I do sympathize with them, but I can't fix their lives. I see them only in the classroom, and I have to deal with them on that level.
I don't think I'm asking for an answer today. I'm just kind of venting.
Yesterday was very frustrating at school. There are those days when some students are too much, when their lack of caring and their lack of effort just becomes overwhelming. It gets very frustrating being in a classroom with students who just don't want to work. I understand much more why teachers burn out so quickly and so badly--we face students who give no effort, and then we're blamed for the fact that they don't learn. It's pretty sad. And I understand that there are many factors that contribute to their problems, and I do sympathize with them, but I can't fix their lives. I see them only in the classroom, and I have to deal with them on that level.
I don't think I'm asking for an answer today. I'm just kind of venting.
Friday, December 7, 2012
Checking In
Good morning, God--
It's been a while since I've talked to you here, though we have talked in other contexts, in other ways. Things are getting busy again, with a lot of time and energy focused in one particular direction over the last couple of weeks. Fortunately, the time and energy spent is having positive results, so the time hasn't been wasted. I just hope that the results continue to be good, and continue to improve.
The school experience seems to have dropped into a valley. The students that I work with are great kids, but few of them seem to want to excel. Few of them seem to want to accomplish more than doing the bare minimum and then moving on to the next thing. It's a sad thing to watch, to be honest. The lack of drive in young people who have so much potential is painful to watch. And it's even more painful to be trying to motivate them to excel, only to have them turn a deaf ear to my efforts. Perhaps I'm not the person to be motivating them--perhaps there's someone out there to whom they would respond better. I don't know.
I do understand better now why teachers have so many problems with students. It's easily the most frustrating--and fulfilling--work that I've done. There are many times when I just want to turn around and walk out, but I know that that would be wrong, and would accomplish nothing but getting a lot of stress out of my life. But my life right now has become a constant series of reflections on how to get kids to respond, to be interested in what we're doing.
I guess that you understand this frustration quite well. You must feel it a lot with us.
A reply.
Yes, I do.
It's been a while since I've talked to you here, though we have talked in other contexts, in other ways. Things are getting busy again, with a lot of time and energy focused in one particular direction over the last couple of weeks. Fortunately, the time and energy spent is having positive results, so the time hasn't been wasted. I just hope that the results continue to be good, and continue to improve.
The school experience seems to have dropped into a valley. The students that I work with are great kids, but few of them seem to want to excel. Few of them seem to want to accomplish more than doing the bare minimum and then moving on to the next thing. It's a sad thing to watch, to be honest. The lack of drive in young people who have so much potential is painful to watch. And it's even more painful to be trying to motivate them to excel, only to have them turn a deaf ear to my efforts. Perhaps I'm not the person to be motivating them--perhaps there's someone out there to whom they would respond better. I don't know.
I do understand better now why teachers have so many problems with students. It's easily the most frustrating--and fulfilling--work that I've done. There are many times when I just want to turn around and walk out, but I know that that would be wrong, and would accomplish nothing but getting a lot of stress out of my life. But my life right now has become a constant series of reflections on how to get kids to respond, to be interested in what we're doing.
I guess that you understand this frustration quite well. You must feel it a lot with us.
A reply.
Yes, I do.
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