I have to admit that I'm a geek. My hobbies include computers and video games and science fiction. (Though I also like hiking and bicycling and various meditations.) So imagine my surprise when I walk into my classroom and there is a shining overhead projector dangling from the ceiling. As soon as they plug it in, it will be used basically every day. I am going to re-distribute seating charts tomorrow, but I actually have a COMPUTER PROGRAM to do it for me and make a cute display with district-adoption-funded sound affects.
This has been my n00b teacher year, for sure. I laugh when I think how much smoother next year will be, but I groan when I think about something foolish I said today or realize something I forgot to do. Whatever. I can't let today get in the way tomorrow.
In a video game, you have to battle meanies in order to gain experience from the combat. You gotta keep fighting off clones and clones of the same few monsters, but it's worth it, for when you have earned enough XP, you will be extreme enough to win against the boss which moves the story along to bigger and more powerful bosses and treasure chests and princesses.
Not sure if this is a metaphor for teaching or just reminiscence. If you do a job or a task long enough, you have a chance to grow toward mastery. The number of times may have to be pretty significant to achieve something grand like the education of a child.
Scraping the ice off my windshield this morning, I thought about my life accomplishments. Such things should always be handled with consideration to their relativity. As we learn to be better teachers or whatever we do, we become better humans. Things that seemd big and tough and demanding before will someday be memories of struggle against worthy adversity.
Amanda writes to find her voice and to follow the footsteps to see where they lead.
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