The other day I was reading a blog of an acquaintance. It helped me get to know her better. It inspired me. It changed me to be better, even if it was to a small degree. I told her that I had read her blog and she asked if I had one. I do, and my last post was over a year ago. Here we go again.
I write a lot in emails to myself (my version of a journal) and to friends. I may start with posting some of those emails and then find my blogging groove in the future. We'll see.
Here's a memory I just emailed to a friend of mine who is a first year teacher:
"I had a student in Las Vegas. His name was Phillip. He was in my freshman Spanish class and it seemed like he never ever shut up. He was louder I typically am. I was a brand new teacher and not quite sure how to deal with it. He frustrated me beyond anything I'd ever felt before. One day I wrote his name on my hand because he missed a detention with me after school. I needed to remember so I could double it the next day (or something... I don't specifically remember).
That night I went to the temple and as I was in the dressing room I saw his name written on my hand. Isaiah 49:16 popped into my head.
"Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me."
That made me think. I had Phillip on my mind that evening. It wasn't so much about how much he frustrated me, but how I could teach him better. I continue to learn that teaching isn't about the teacher, but about the students. (Trite, but true.) Now, Phillip continued to drive me crazy on occasion, and every "trouble-maker" I have I subconsciously name Phillip, but my perspective had changed ever so slightly."
I'm not sure about blogging etiquette, but I changed the name of the student in the story above.
