take
credit for this one, but the credit has to go to Dave Carr. If you want to read a thought-provoking, inspirational blog, go to www.carrpediem.blogspot.com. If you're happy reading the meandering of someone whose head is stuffed with fluff, well, read on.
I started teaching accounting at nights at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) last fall. I teach one class each term, believe me, it's enough. For those of you who are teachers, I'm not telling you anything you don't know. Teaching is incredibly hard. You put in a significant amount of hours preparing, planning, strategizing, trying to figure out how best to present the material so that students will learn it and get it. You have the struggle of balancing the material, some students "get it" quickly and easily, and some students, unfortunately, will never get it. You try to balance how you present to keep it from being boring for some and keep it from being overwhelming for others. I've asked experienced teachers, and they struggle with this issue, so I don't think I'm going to master it anytime soon. And to be honest, I teach accounting, which isn't the most thrilling topic to try to teach students. My class is one night a week, so 2 1/2 hours of accounting. It beats watching paint dry, but it's not always easy to liven up an accounting class. When in doubt, I do my usual, I tell stories. I figure if I at least tell them some real life stories about how accounting works, the subject may stick a little better.
Teaching in so many ways can be thankless. Again, nothing new that I'm telling full-time teachers. You work hard to prepare, try to make the class interesting, try to educate, and you still end up with a certain portion that may not try, may not show up, don't do the homework, don't pass the class. As much as you try to tell yourself that you can't do the work for them, you still feel like a failure when your students fail. It hurts to know that you simply didn't reach a certain portion of your students.
One of the things that GGC does is offer a program to students called "Thank a Teacher". They ask students to write a note or letter that can provided to a teacher if they want to thank them for something they've done. I've received one each term, thankfully, and I passed it on to a few of my Small Group members from Dayton because it made me feel good. As one of them, a college professor, said, teaching is like golf. When you're a golfer, you always remember that one great shot you hit during the round that keeps you coming back. When you're a teacher, you don't get many thank you's, but that one that you do get, keeps you motivated, keeps you excited to do it again.
Dave Carr challenged me, and I am now challenging any of you that read my blog. Thank a teacher. Or if it's not a teacher, thank a mentor, thank a minister, a youth leader, someone who has touched or touches your life. As Dave would suggest, don't type it, don't do it by e-mail, write a simple, hand-written note, give it to them personally, or mail it to them. Speaking from one who recently was thanked, I can assure you, you will make someone's day if you give them a simple thank you for what they've done in your life.
I plan to take the challenge from Dave and start today. By the way, the picture above is of Patrick and Sean with their music teacher, Steve Burkholder. As I've said before, every child should have a Steve Burkholder in his or her life. We have tried to continually tell Steve what he has meant to Patrick and Sean, and to us. I figured posting a picture of the boys with such an incredible teacher was a fitting way to highlight this post. Please, take the challenge, thank a teacher!
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