Back to work and feeling good

 

Back to work and feeling good

As I have written in the past, I retired in 2013 after teaching elementary school for 17 years.  Since then, my husband and I packed up our house and relocated 1,200 miles away to be closer to two of our three sons.  I also helped design my blog site and had it running by the new year.  Certainly I had experienced a lot of positive changes the first months of retired life, but I still felt a bit “empty”.

 Once I felt settled in our new house, I decided to start subbing in the local school district.  I had spent my entire career teaching primary grades at the same elementary school my three sons attended, so naturally I had assumed that I would feel most comfortable subbing at that level.   Needless to say, I have loved working with teenagers!  They certainly are a group of kiddos who are in a type of limbo in their lives; they are not youngsters but they are not adults yet.  Many are awkwardly tall while others pray every night to grow a few inches so younger sister doesn’t pass them up.  Young girls are pre-occupied with their breast size and may resort to various ways to add   an inch so their profile looks more mature.  The smell of Clearasil and Proactiv is evident, as well as strong body odor for those whose parents have not introduced them yet to deodorant.  Come on parents, get with it…your kid stinks!!!

Friends are extremely important to young teens and it’s very apparent, even to an infrequent visitor at their school, which kids struggle with self-esteem issues and have no pack to run with at all, and which kids thrive to be in the middle of a large group and all the chaos they create.

I feel good about what I’m doing and believe that I’m making a difference in some young lives.  I am surprised and thrilled that when I am out and about in the community, that these 11-14 year olds actually go out of their way to say hi to me.  In some cases I can greet them by name, but on other days I feel like my name retrieval really “sucks” and I’m experiencing a “senior moment”.

Through this journey I have realized that my self-esteem and my identity are intertwined with my work and contributions.  I feel like I have a purpose, and someone/students are depending on me for the day

. I can make a difference in someone’s life today by a smile, a compliment or a response I make.  I have found that if I can make some type of connection or share something in common, that’s the first step to building an unlikely relationship.

Now I’m not saying we become buddy buddy; no, not at all.  But I am saying that when I greet the students as they enter the room, sometimes a simple response such as “You have such beautiful eyes,” “What a great name you have” or “You’re a ________(sports) fan, don’t they have a great team this year?”  is enough to start building that connection.  Several times once the class period has finished, a student or two may wait around to talk to me about a number of topics.

One time as I was releasing a class of 8th graders from a social studies class and their “ticket to leave” was to tell me one thing they are good at, proud of or liked about themselves.  I noticed that one girl kept moving to the back of the line as it was getting smaller.  When the two of us were the only ones in the room, I restated my question, “tell me something you are proud of or good at”, and she said there was “nothing”.  My heart just broke to think she actually thought that of herself.  As we talked I brought up different positive academic characteristics I was aware of about her from previous subbing assignments; she was a math wiz and didn’t recognize the fact.  I also suggested  to her some of her attractive physical features she possessed (a beautiful smile, sparkly eyes) which she didn’t see or agree on.  I was so sad to think that this beautiful, vibrant, smart young lady didn’t see what I saw.   On subsequent subbing assignments I always sought her out to fill her head with “positive talk” about her.  I can only hope that as she moved onto high school this year that a staff member has taken her under their wing and have continued the mantra, “You are a great person who possesses many positive characteristics”.

Tomorrow is a new day and I have a subbing job at one of the middle schools in town.  As I greet the students as they enter the room, I will be searching for the one or two students that I can make a connection with and make a difference in their lives and yes, these students make a difference in my life as well.   One person can make a difference in someone’s life and I hope tomorrow will be the day that my smile or comment can make a positive impact on a young life.

                                                                                    Until next time,

                                                                                    Judy