Watering the Plants
When I speak of watering the plants, I mean it in the figurative sense. In all actuality, I have a black thumb. I kill plants. The plants find out I am their new mistress, and they know their life expectancy has been shortened tremendously. I don't remember being like this pre-children. I used to always have a porch garden of fresh herbs and then usually a tomato plant and a green pepper plant. They thrived. Post children? Well, I guess my attention span is directed elsewhere. The most frequent cause of death is either overwatering (overzealous children trying to help) or no water (we have plants? OH SHIT!).
However, when speaking of my STUDENTS as plants and ME as the gardener, my luck is much better. Sometimes the plants die despite my best efforts. Sometimes they barely make it, or produce just a tomato or two. But a lot of the times, I watch a tiny plant--usually the one I expected least to grow and produce--flower, bloom, and feed my soul most heartily with its produce.
My most favorite plant...er, I mean student...was Brenda. Some of you may remember me writing extensively about her around a year ago (near the beginning of my blog, actually!). If life is a 100 yard dash, my life placed me on the 80 yard line. I'll finish. There is no doubt. You'd have to TRY to not succeed when your family is as functional and loving as mine. Brenda? Well, she was at the negative 20 yard line, and I'll be damned if she's already ahead of me in the game! She started out as a writer with just horrific flaws, and she ended up with a fluid, beautiful, experience-ridden writing style. More importantly, she started out with no self-confidence, wondering why she was in school, barely keeping afloat financially...and now she is a single mom who is THRIVING: straight A student, entering the nursing program, kids doing well, succeeding in her job, and now a proud house owner. When Brenda and I run in to each other, it's all babbles, smiles, hugs, and laughter. We make Chuck need insulin; he says it's like watching a hallmark moment when we are together...haha! One plant like Brenda and my soul is fed for so long that no occupation other than teaching will do.
This term, I have a few plants who have flourished amazingly well. The one I'm pondering now is actually Angie's aunt. Let's call her R.
When Angie told me that her aunt was in my class, I was surprised. At first I couldn't remember WHICH of my older students she was, but after Angie described her to me, I knew exactly whom she was. Her diagnostic essay was riddled with run-ons. She lacked self-confidence completely. She "knew" she couldn't write, and certainly at her age, she wasn't going to learn like the younger kids, right? But R did as I asked: she showed up in the Writing Center for everything. I mean EVERYTHING, too. I knew that she was Angie's favorite aunt, but Angie also mentioned that she was of a more conservative bent, so I wondered if I'd eventually offend her. So far, we seem to be ok there...haha!
When she brought her journals in, she fretted about everything. We had a running joke about her comma splices. When she started out, she averaged about three to four a page. "Wait, a run-on! Oohhh psychic senses tell me...it's R's paper!" and we'd laugh.
She started opening up about her personal life in her journal. I had goosebumps when I was reading one of her entries for her that she wanted checked because it was about Angie's uncle, Kevin, whom she has mentioned on her blog before. I KNEW the ending, so I sniffed a bit. I learned of the sibling she never knew, and the two pictures that hang over her parent's bed now in memory of the child long gone. It's not my business to reveal all that she wrote, but I started to see pieces of a puzzle that lined up and suddenly came together. I began to understand HER, and she is BEAUTIFUL.
And each piece of paper? Well, fewer errors. Fewer run-ons. More fluidity. More creativity. A tentative reaching out to express herself in words when she thought she NEVER could. One day, she came into the Writing Center and was all excited because she managed to write something with her scrapbook pages for a family event. She said she always was confident with the scrapbooking but reluctant to write anything, and this time she had no fears about writing a piece with it. I mentioned that I bet Angie's piece was well-written, and she laughed and said yes of course, plus very long compared to R's! haha! I was so proud for her that writing was no longer an issue in the way it once was. I was even prouder to see her skills improve so noticably.
Just a week ago, R came into the Writing Center. I read a three page paper of hers and...was stunned at the end. "R," I said breathlessly, "there aren't ANY run-ons in here!" She grinned, proud of herself too. After all her hard work, she NEEDS to feel that sense of accomplishment. She's a writer now. She has something to say, and she says it well.
Another plant has produced enough fruit for my soul to thrive for longer still. I'm so glad I met Angie's aunt. R is just...well, a lovely, terrific person. And I am lucky to be her teacher.
However, when speaking of my STUDENTS as plants and ME as the gardener, my luck is much better. Sometimes the plants die despite my best efforts. Sometimes they barely make it, or produce just a tomato or two. But a lot of the times, I watch a tiny plant--usually the one I expected least to grow and produce--flower, bloom, and feed my soul most heartily with its produce.
My most favorite plant...er, I mean student...was Brenda. Some of you may remember me writing extensively about her around a year ago (near the beginning of my blog, actually!). If life is a 100 yard dash, my life placed me on the 80 yard line. I'll finish. There is no doubt. You'd have to TRY to not succeed when your family is as functional and loving as mine. Brenda? Well, she was at the negative 20 yard line, and I'll be damned if she's already ahead of me in the game! She started out as a writer with just horrific flaws, and she ended up with a fluid, beautiful, experience-ridden writing style. More importantly, she started out with no self-confidence, wondering why she was in school, barely keeping afloat financially...and now she is a single mom who is THRIVING: straight A student, entering the nursing program, kids doing well, succeeding in her job, and now a proud house owner. When Brenda and I run in to each other, it's all babbles, smiles, hugs, and laughter. We make Chuck need insulin; he says it's like watching a hallmark moment when we are together...haha! One plant like Brenda and my soul is fed for so long that no occupation other than teaching will do.
This term, I have a few plants who have flourished amazingly well. The one I'm pondering now is actually Angie's aunt. Let's call her R.
When Angie told me that her aunt was in my class, I was surprised. At first I couldn't remember WHICH of my older students she was, but after Angie described her to me, I knew exactly whom she was. Her diagnostic essay was riddled with run-ons. She lacked self-confidence completely. She "knew" she couldn't write, and certainly at her age, she wasn't going to learn like the younger kids, right? But R did as I asked: she showed up in the Writing Center for everything. I mean EVERYTHING, too. I knew that she was Angie's favorite aunt, but Angie also mentioned that she was of a more conservative bent, so I wondered if I'd eventually offend her. So far, we seem to be ok there...haha!
When she brought her journals in, she fretted about everything. We had a running joke about her comma splices. When she started out, she averaged about three to four a page. "Wait, a run-on! Oohhh psychic senses tell me...it's R's paper!" and we'd laugh.
She started opening up about her personal life in her journal. I had goosebumps when I was reading one of her entries for her that she wanted checked because it was about Angie's uncle, Kevin, whom she has mentioned on her blog before. I KNEW the ending, so I sniffed a bit. I learned of the sibling she never knew, and the two pictures that hang over her parent's bed now in memory of the child long gone. It's not my business to reveal all that she wrote, but I started to see pieces of a puzzle that lined up and suddenly came together. I began to understand HER, and she is BEAUTIFUL.
And each piece of paper? Well, fewer errors. Fewer run-ons. More fluidity. More creativity. A tentative reaching out to express herself in words when she thought she NEVER could. One day, she came into the Writing Center and was all excited because she managed to write something with her scrapbook pages for a family event. She said she always was confident with the scrapbooking but reluctant to write anything, and this time she had no fears about writing a piece with it. I mentioned that I bet Angie's piece was well-written, and she laughed and said yes of course, plus very long compared to R's! haha! I was so proud for her that writing was no longer an issue in the way it once was. I was even prouder to see her skills improve so noticably.
Just a week ago, R came into the Writing Center. I read a three page paper of hers and...was stunned at the end. "R," I said breathlessly, "there aren't ANY run-ons in here!" She grinned, proud of herself too. After all her hard work, she NEEDS to feel that sense of accomplishment. She's a writer now. She has something to say, and she says it well.
Another plant has produced enough fruit for my soul to thrive for longer still. I'm so glad I met Angie's aunt. R is just...well, a lovely, terrific person. And I am lucky to be her teacher.
posted by Kira | 3:32 PM
10 Comments:
I'm actually crying b/c I'm so proud of R. She's a very special person, and I think that you've helped her realize she has every right to be back in school; more importantly, she realizes she is going to be good at it.
I will have to find what I wrote for the scrapbook - it talks a whole lot about R too. I think you'd like it, though I must admit, I wrote it in about 10 mins b/c I was short on time. It was kind of a giant freewrite, lol.
Thanks for being such a good teacher to R and all your other students, Kira. It means a lot, and even though you don't get the salary to reflect it, your positive impact on the world is immense.
It does make you feel like you've done something great when a student finally knocks down his/her obstacle. Then, there are the students who you worry about forever and ever. I've got to figure out what happened to L. This is not normal behavior for him.
Would you mind saving the happy tears posts until next week? I'll be less emotional then because Aunt Flo will have left. =)
Honestly, I find it hard to believe that you have not turned all of your students into magnificent flowers!! And writers too! I would be in your class too because I can't write as well as I'd like. But I can make one hell of a scrapbook, just like R!!
Thanks for reminding me why I wake up every morning.
I thought you said your job didn't come with "benefits"?? Sounds like you've got GREAT benefits!!
with a teacher as good as you, how could she fail to be wonderful?
for someone who has obstactles or whatever infront of her and then goes on to achieve things in whatever field is incredibly admirable, so kudos R and whatever other students achieve.
I love it when the skunk cabbage turns out to be a Peace Rose.
How the hell do you people expect me to say something cynical when you're all so maudlin? ;)
A teacher like you is absolutely priceless and she knows it.
I wasn't told I was a good writer until my first year of grad school. It wasn't until then that I realized I needed to hear it.
Everyday you make someone feel good about themselves and it is truly the greatest gift.
There is a skill to mentoring that most people lack. Glad you have it and glad you can use it.
Keep up the good work!
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