something to be proud of

Last week, I was sitting at my desk during block five getting some grades and plans done because no students were with me at the time.  When I looked up, I saw one of my students from my first block class walking into the room, toward my desk.  She had a smile on her face and a carefree- which is not always the case- air about her.  I smiled back, welcoming her in.

She laughed, because earlier that day she had sent me an e-mail with a funny "emoticon" attached to it.  I laughed with her, then affirmed that she was not producing the e-mail during another teacher's lesson!  She assured me this was not so, and I believed her, so we went back to laughing about the dancing lobsters and bobbing heads that lighted up my e-mail a few hours ago.

I then asked her what was up, and the best thing was that her response was, matter-of-factly, "Nothing."  She had a few minutes to spare before her ride picked her up, and knew she might be able to find me and another one of her teachers in this room if she stopped by.  I smiled more to myself than her, then talked to her about the project she was currently working on for another class.  She vented about how she lost part of it a few days ago, but optimistically stated what her plan for revival was.  After this, her other teacher entered the room, and we three chatted for a bit longer.

Within ten minutes she was gone, but the smile she gave me was not.  Despite the fact that I am insecure about both the community I teach in and the district I have transferred to from my overly positive experiences while teaching in New York, I realized that I had done it again- another student found an adult she could turn to in Mrs. Hauser.  Many days, I think that these simple interactions mean so much more to me than rewarding someone with an A+ on his essay or full credit on a reading quiz.  Thank you, Tina, for something to be proud of.