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| Teaching Today
Yesterday, Lena got her math test back. She had done very
poorly. I could see how discouraged she was… she was so disappointed. There was
a sadness in her eyes. For the rest of the class period, she sat there, her
eyes looking down at her desk. She picked up
her pencil and started marking up her calculator. She basically painted it
black with lead. She was so sad.
Today, when the kids were doing their homework, I was making
my usual rounds. Walking up and down the aisles, I was checking to see how the kids
were doing. I came up to Lena. She was working on a few problems, her
calculator in her hands. I caught her attention, then I looked at her marked up
calculator. I gave her an inquisitive look, and she just shrugged. I went to my
closet and took out a rag. I walked over to her desk. She was using her
calculator at the moment, but I started cleaning it while she was still trying
to use it. Wiping away the lead streaks, she started to look at me like I was
crazy. I whispered to her, “I saw when
you did this to your calculator.” She looked at me with those same sad eyes,
and I looked right back at her. “We have to clean this because if you don’t,
every time you look at it, you’ll remember the time you made all these marks. Bad
memories… Look, see how it’s getting clean? Just like new. It’s like we get to
start all over again.” Her eyes grew wider. Not as sorrowful. “Sometimes it’s
hard to clean, but see? Now it’s all better.”
Everyone in that class thought I was having an OCD moment.
They thought I was talking about keeping property clean. But Lena knew that I was
talking only about her. She knew that I was trying to encourage her to get up
and try again. And in front of the whole class, without them knowing it, we had
a moment: teacher and student.
She came in after school later that day to make up a quiz. Afterwards,
I asked her, “Did you understand what I was talking about today?” She softly
said yes, turned her head as if to go, but stopped. She turned around and said,
“Thank you, Mr. Seo.” and she smiled. | | |
| Teaching Today
When you make an effort to reach out to a kid, you'd be surprised with how responsive they can be. One of the best ways to do this is to show interest in the things that they care about like sports or drama or even just video games. Because of my church responsibilities i don't get to support my kids' events too often. But every now and then, i sneak away from my church duties, and i go watch a game or go see the musical. Here's a picture of me at one of the basketball games:
Every time one of my students' scored, i waved the sign over my head
and cheered. In the end, when the kids saw that i cared about them,
they cared about what i had to teach them.
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To be a better man
Today I got an email from a parent that told me that she was
divorcing her husband. Actually, they had been in the process for about 2 years
now. The reason she was telling me now was because I teach her daughter, and as
of late, the daughter has been showing signs of depression. I’ve definitely
noticed a change over the last few weeks. The subtle things… the make-up, her word
choices, her eyes… She wasn’t the same kid that I had met last year. And as I
read the email, my heart just broke for her. I was reminded that she was a
child caught in the middle. A child left behind. I spend so much of my time
treating my students like they’re adults that sometimes I forget that they
really are kids.
So when the girl came into class today, I really had only
one thought: “She makes me want to be a better man.” Very humanistic, but it
was the honest truth. I wish that somehow through teaching geometric
transformations that I could give a supernatural smile or a word of
encouragement. I hoped that an opportunity would present itself, but I couldn’t
find that moment.
To my surprise, she stopped by after school today for some
help on her homework. After we were done, we had some small talk about the
class, and I gave it a shot. I let her know that I was here to help her
whenever she needed it. Of course, she interpreted in terms of mathematics help
which is what I intended it to be, but, Oh, how I wish I could have prayed for
her! Or shared God’s promises with her!
But I cannot because of the State and because of wisdom, but I can still pray.
I can still have hope.
Today I remembered that Christ is the better man, and I want
to be just like him. | | |
| The Most Brutal Food Critics
You want to see if you can really cook? Try cooking for kids... This weekend, i got to cook for the Sunday School. If you've ever worked with kids, you know that they have no shame. They'll tell you exactly what they think. I was very intrigued at the idea of trying to please these very difficult little customers. It was a struggle to get some freedom in making my menu, but eventually, in a compromise, i made an updated version of an old classic:
Macaroni in a Cheese Bechamel Sauce, garnished with a 12-hour braised flank steak and a lightly pickled cucumber side dish.
Yeah, i know, it's basically mac and cheese, but i wanted to try to give the kids something with a little more class. But no matter how good it was, only the kids opinions mattered. So the verdict? I'll give you a cross section of opinions:
Pre-K kid: I don't like this.
Me: oh. ok
Teacher: Little girl, you have to try it first before you can say you don't like it.
2nd Grader: (she tugs on my khakis and smiling like she's crazy): Hey, I love meat. I love meat.
Kindergarten kid: I didn't like it, but then my teacher made me try it, and i liked it. (he had seconds too)
Pre-K Kid: Hey, you! I'm gonna call you Mr. Meat!! (apparently he liked the meat garnish)
Teacher: Can I get some more of that meat? But not as a garnish. Just give me a lot of it.
So all in all, it went well. Some rough comments from a few kids, but i enjoyed the challenge. It was a struggle to get kids to eat their vegetables, but i guess it's always hard to get them to eat their vegetables. Even Mr. Meat has to serve vegetables from time to time.
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| Going Rogue
It is now 7:55 AM Sunday morning. I'm about to go preside Sunday Service, but I wanted to clear my conscience before i do what i'm about to do. The presiders have been asked to try to update our presiding by being more friendly, less rigid, and more natural. They want us to get rid of all the preset phrases during service. And to be honest, i'm terrified because I have the unfortunate privilege of going first. I'm going to try to set a precedent against the way we've been doing it for 15+ years. And I'm sure that the congregation will think that I'm going rogue today, that I'm personally just trying to change up the presiding. I'm sure there will be many strange looks and whispers from the congregation, and i'm sure that the worship team guys in the front row will laugh at me. But i'm going to do it because that's what i was asked to do. No shame.... but much fear.
So here's a shout out to all the phrases we've come to know and love. Hopefully they will not be missed...
Please rise for Praise of Adoration, hymn number ###, that's Praise of Adoration, Hymn number ###.
Please remain standing for responsive reading number ###. The responsive reading can be found in the back of your hymnals. That's responsive reading number ###. The presider will begin and the congregation will follow in the text that is flushed to the left.
Let us now profess our faith as we recite the apostle's creed. The apostle's creed can be found on the inside portion of the bulletin. All together.
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