Humbled & Amazed

(January 2012)

It's not often that I am awestruck, but this week has definitely been one with several awe inspiring moments, culminating today- at the end of a very long week.

This morning, one of the teachers across the hall from me said very excitedly "Happy Birthday Mr E!" I looked at her rather quizzically and tried to make the reveal as least awkwardly as possible (because there were 60 pairs of eyes staring at me), but I had to break that news that today is not my birthday. To make matters worse, my students immediately began to exclaim "happy birthday!" She, equally confused, said "oh, I thought it was because I saw a cake." At this point I thought she'd confused me with someone else because there was no cake with my name on it anywhere. I shrugged it off and continued walking my class to recess.

Still on a high from yesterday when one of the students that I love to hate and love to death showed 1.6 years of reading growth since September, I continued the task of sitting down with other students assessing their progress in reading. One of my struggling readers showed growth from 2nd to 3rd grade comprehension and another student grew from 6th grade to somewhere around 9th grade on this particular reading assessment. By lunch I'm beaming with pride, making sure that my students know how extremely proud of them I am and trying to make sure they understand how amazing their progress is and how hard the work that we've been doing is paying off.

A student who has difficulty managing his anger put forth great effort to voluntarily use a tool that I suggested and that he denied until this point in the year.

A parent, seeing the improvement in her daughter's reading, asked that I test her reading level. She too is learning English and wanted to know how she could improve in a similar way to her daughter, based on what we have done in the classroom.

My boss, for whom I have much esteem, had a meeting with me where he shared with me his impression of my work and progress at my job.

Then- Friday at 2:30pm, as my students were working on an independent American History assignment, students from my other class start to come into my room. Assuming that they forgot their materials or lunch boxes, I shooed them away. My class was working so quietly, that I could not risk unnecessary interruptions- they wits have to wait until after school. Furthermore, I was reading one on one with a student, and we both needed to continue to focus.

Suddenly, there are parents creeping into my classroom. I am slightly confused because there are so many of them. Then...everyone starts to sing the birthday song.

I am simultaneously embarrassed that I shooed my students away and touched that I am in the midst of a surprise birthday celebration for myself. My birthday had passed a week and a hang before, and because I was bashful (I know, imagine that) I let it pass without telling my students until the day of- as a passing comment in the afternoon.

Students and parents, disappointed that they had not been able to acknowledge my special day, secretly planned a celebration for me anyway. With no holds barred, 3 cakes, pizzas gifts, cards, and the works - they arrived and filled my day with love. One of my students even made me a flan himself, he told me beaming with pride. The parents and families pooled their money, accepting donations from all families who could. How this all occurred without my knowledge, I do not know. Not a single one of my 5th graders gave it away or said a perp about it (which you know is monumental if you've ever known someone who is 10-11 years old). I almost shed a tear, I was so touched and supremely humbled by this display of love. I worked with such urgency to help my students achieve. To know that they and their families thought enough of me to do this really made my day, my week, my career.

This week, and all of its amazingness, is something that I am writing about so that I never forget. The going gets tough pretty often, and its important to step back and think about and remember that it gets better, and people do appreciate my time, energy, and heart.