Parents

I left school sad today. I’ve had several of my kids that I had for two years drop by, and seeing them is so bittersweet. I hate that they’re not in my class anymore. Moreover, seeing them reminds me how close we were and how long it takes to get there.

I feel so disjointed, so out of touch with my own self at the beginning of each year because I thrive on investing in my students. But investing takes trust, and trust takes time.

Feeling this sense of being dismembered, I decided to start reading some of the responses from my parent survey.

The very first parent talked about how excited she was for the flipped classroom model.

Another said she’d been waiting for her son to be in my class for years.

Yet another wrote that her child chose to take AB because he loved my teaching style from PreCalc (he wasn’t even my student last year, but I made all the content for our virtual Precalc kids second semester).

And then there were the deeper comments…

Kids who had lost a parent (and subsequently a parent now raising kids alone)…

Kids who struggled with anxiety…

Kids who had insecurities…

I’m not going to say reading each of these worked some kind of miracle on me. But they did remind me of the important work we do. And important work takes time.

I’m thankful for each parent who shared. I’m thankful they trust me enough to teach their kid—the person who has their whole heart.

Next week I start my intro conversations. I had to do them differently last year because of COVID, so it’ll be the first time in two years that I attempt this endeavor.

A week ago I questioned if I really had the energy to hold 120 stories.

After reading these surveys, I still wonder that. But I’m eager for the bond I know it will form.

And I’m ready to hear their stories.