My incredibly talented wife, Jena Lamse, wrote this essay for her school district and she won for best essay. I am very proud of her and it shows the type of impact that she and other teachers make every day to their students. Here it is below: It’s easy to lose myself in the world of TEKs and stacks of paper littering my desk. My mental to-do list begs to be rehearsed in my mind, yet again. But then the tardy bell rings, and there they are, their faces looking at me for the grand plan and all the answers. I know them, and they know me, my little clan. I scan their faces, reading their expressions. A sub would think Adam’s eyes were already closing because he was being apathetic; I know he works the late shift and never gets home before 1:00 a.m. Caroline seems cold, distant, removed from everyone. But in her journal, she revealed to me that it is a wall she‘s constructed to stay brave through her parent’s divorce. Miller is drumming on the table AGAIN—enough to make me want to march over and take the pencil out of his hand and break it in two! But I won’t, because he has ADD to beat the band, and keeping his hands busy stops him from exploding. “Today, we’re going to start with each one of you writing the names of everyone in the class on index cards,” I explain, passing out several note cards to each student. “And once you’ve done that, underneath your classmate’s name, list three compliments about him or her, strengths that you see. Give me something specific,” I instruct, “Not just ‘he’s nice’.” They look at me like “What in the world?” for a minute, but then pick up writing utensils and go at it. After fifteen minutes or so, I tell them to pass the compliments out to each other. “Like Santa Claus on Christmas morning,” I say, and I watch their faces. Smiles slowly spread across the room as they read. Anna traces her name with her index finger on one of her cards and blushes. I marvel at what so few written words can do for a person. They all really soak in the comments, and sit a little bit higher in their seats. I don’t totally get it. They go on to write their college essays that period, outlining their personal strengths. Their pencils move feverishly, fueled by the recent compliments. “I like this assignment,” I think to myself, “I’ll keep this one.” And as they file past me to turn in their finished papers, sweet, shy Brian hands me an index card: Mrs. Lamse You care. You’re kind. You know me. Nine words that change my day. A big smile spreads across my face. Now I get it.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 19:11:24 +0000
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