Typical Friday
Kids are being remarkably good considering we're entering the home stretch here with one week to go.
The teachers seem more anxious for summer than the kids!
As usual on a Friday, I went to lunch today with my teaching partner. We realized that eating at the same joint for an entire year leads to the cashier putting in your order before you even get to the counter and instead of greeting you, she just smiles and tells you what you owe. Now THAT'S service...
...I think.
As I headed to the ladies room to wash my hands I see a familiar face smiling at me. Although I can't recall a name, I know she's a former student.
I smile back and say:
Me: Weren't you in my third grade class a few years ago?
Girl: Yes, Miss Lee. (My name before I became Mrs. Lee a few years ago)
Me: Oh gosh! You look great! I'm sorry, but what is your name?
Girl: Diana
Me: Oh Yes! I remember now! (She could have said anything. Faces I remember. Names? ehh...) Out for the summer now?
Diana: Yup!
Me: Wow! What grade are you in now?
Diana: I just finished my sophomore year in college.
Me: Whaaaa???? (audible snicker from my teaching partner back at our table)
Diana: Yup, I'm studying to be a nurse.
Me: Whhaaaaa???? I mean, woooow! That's greaaaaat...
The pain I felt when I realized that this little person I had taught in third grade was rounding the corner on becoming someone who might soon care for me in my old age was indescribable, but let me try.
Crappy.
The cherry on top was when my human calculator of a teaching partner did the math and told me that my first class of third graders would have graduated from college last year.
Brat.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Ego Blow of Another Kind
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9 comments:
I taught preK my first year teaching and this year my first class graduates from high school. I ran into one of my former students recently...she had her toddler in tow. Sigh.
After 26 years of teaching, it's really neat to see how my former elementary students are doing as adults. Kind words from the kids you often wondered about how/where they would be in their adulthood is awesome!
I agree, Cindy. It was great to hear she's working towards a nursing degree and not an assistant management position at a kiosk in the mall.
But when we go back to making it all about me, it's...
crappy.
At least for you it was 3rd grade. I taught 7th grade and they seem to have gotten old a heck of a lot quicker than me. Right?
Sandy, you could never get old!
Empathy. One of my former 1st graders bagged my groceries last night.
I have one former student who is now in graduate school to become an educational psychologist. I've written several references for her through the years, and now she calls me by my first name since we are friends. While it does make me feel old, I do love it when they turn out to be good adults! (In the area where I teach, that's not so common, unfortunately....)
My first such experience happened at a Happy Hour. After about a bazillion drinks, our waitress says to me, "Weren't you a student teacher at Such-and-Such School?" Mind you, this was the waitress bringing me my drinks all night long!
Heh heh heh, this year I'll be receiving COLLEGE graduation announcements from my first group of kindergarten students. Yes, several of them have already married and started families.
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