Social Physics: How Student Relationships Affect the Classroom

In my Youth Minister days, we had a tried and true illustration.  Get a strong/large student to stand on a chair and a small/less strong student to stand on the floor.  Instruct the two to pull against each other and see what happens.  Most often, the small student would pull the larger down.  "Aha!" we would say, and explain that it is a lot harder to pull someone up than it is to drag them down.

As a teacher, I am starting to observe that like in this illustration, there are certain rules of Social Physics at work in our classrooms.  I would like to discuss just a few of them here, beginning with the above illustration.  (Fair warning, I teach Social Studies, so please forgive some slight simplification of the science as poetic license .)

The Gravity Constant

Now, as an educator, I still see the merit in that illustration, but I want to add something.  The reason that the smaller can pull down the larger is that gravity plays a role.  In physics, one knows the gravitational constant is 9.8.  That is added to the pull the small exerts on the large, potentially evening out the amount of force, and typically shifting the balance.  In addition to gravity, standing on a chair is not as stable as the ground.  

In a classroom situation, I have heard teachers argue that it is good to have "honors" level students in the same class as the "on-level" students because it will bring the grades up and they will learn from each other.  Yes, and no.  If the "honors" students are significantly popular, or there are more of them than the other students, then yes.  But when they are outnumbered, I witness the opposite.  The Gravity Constant pulls them down.  Often, it starts as the "honors" student stops answering questions because they are the only one, then the pressure of always being the one the other students look at when a curve is broken kicks in.  Social pressure begins to weigh.

I am in no way diminishing the importance of peer tutoring, but as educators we need to be aware to take care of those students who are shouldering the weight not only of their own responsibilities, but the pressure they feel from their peers.  Help them find a more stable "chair" to stand on, occasionally let them off the "chair" so they can just be another student, and be there pushing the students on the ground up when you see the student on the "chair" trying to help.

Newton's First Law

An object at rest remains at rest. An object in motion remains in motion. To change either of these, outside force is required.  

Every student needs a push.

 Every. Single. One. 

Now that push may move them to pass, or to get a perfect score on the SAT. But it must happen. How much push- and how much prep to get ready for the push- depends on the student. Some students come with wheels- a subtle nudge will move them to success. Some students are "up on blocks" and need to be given wheels- knowledge and skills to complete the task- before the push. 

In either case, when a student walks I your door, they need a push to find success. That push may be as simple as laying out expectations or as complex as convincing a student that your subject actually does matter. Some students are ready to roll at day one, others are like a classic car that has been sitting in the garage for too long. The work will take time, but it will be worth it in the end. 

Sometimes, the inertia a student brings to class is not exactly what you want. Here, the First Law says it's not just going to stop on its own. Enter discipline. And, enter the Second Law. 

Newton's Second Law

More mass requires more force to accelerate. 

Discipline problems often do not start in your room. There is some acceleration bursting through your door, and it may anger at the last teacher or pain from something that just went out on social media or something from home. You did not ask for it, but it is barreling toward you nonetheless. 

Big problems need a lot of force, small problems need little force. You just never know which one is staring at you in the moment. 

Ok, a red faced, teary eyed, or swearing, swinging student is a clear call. But hopefully that's not a frequent situation. 

Whatever the thing you face, if it is not addressed, it could derail your class. Or worse yet, entangle other students in it. That gravity constant still applies here- large mass has strong gravitational pull. 

Now applying force to stop can be firm discipline, clearing addressing the issue at hand. But, in a slight departure from the First Law, sometimes it can be ignored. 

A problem that is not affecting others can sometimes be made worse by applying force from the teacher, when there is another outside force already acting. 

Time. 

Students may just need a moment to burn out the heat of what they were dealing with. 

Because if you react too strongly, there will be a reaction. 

Newton's Third Law

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. 

I've seen it in my classroom and in other teachers' stories. You react to a student wanting attention- even if it's negative.  They respond by doing exactly the opposite of what you wanted- they ramp up the behavior. Or they use that pesky gravity constant to draw the class in with them. So what do you do?

Ignore it. 

Yeah- it seems counterintuitive, but sometimes reacting in the moment does exactly what you don't want. Instead, let the moment die. Student misbehavior is all about timing, like comedy. When the student doesn't get what they wanted and other students see you are not phased, their momentum is gone and your opposite reaction worked. 

Obviously, there are limits- if a student is in emotional or physical danger you must act. But weigh the moment. 

Social Physics

So there it is. A theory to try out on your socially active students. Now, I'm gladly headed back to teaching social studies. 

Do Not Condescend Their Youth: Cultivating Leadership Among Students

It is the Spring Semester, which means secondary schools all over the country are holding, or about to hold Student Council elections.  Just this week, I sat in on candidate interviews where I observed potential leaders casting vision and laying out plans.  What I saw in the interviews offered hope and excitement, but also frustration and disappointment. I love leadership, and I have a strong desire to help grow leaders among our next generation, and while I see the seeds of it, I also see that we as educators want leaders, but we seem to struggle with how to identify and mature them.

While I have only worked in the school system for just under three years, I have worked with teens and college students for over fourteen years- including about a decade in the ministry.  I was always looking for students with key leadership characteristics and ways to fine-tune those skills. As a minister, I loved to share this verse with students- and the adults who took those student's leadership for granted:

"And don’t let anyone put you down because you’re young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity."  (1 Timothy 4:12 The Message)

I constantly challenged my students in youth ministry to set the bar for the adults.  So, why then, as a teacher, do I not issue that same challenge to my students in the school setting?

Regardless of your religious or spiritual background, this is sound advice.  I believe it is completely applicable to our students in Student Council, Athletics, FFA, Theater, classes in general or any gathering where students are expected to lead.  So, I want to take just a few minutes to expound upon how to cultivate leadership by drawing out the qualities of leader in word, demeanor, love, faith, and integrity.

Word
Full disclosure- I am a speech and debate coach.  I value the spoken and written word as a powerful cornerstone of leadership.  So, whether the Apostle Paul- who wrote 1 Timothy- put "word" first because he valued it as I do or because he liked the flow better, I think it is most important.  

Most of of us hear talk of leaders and words (which is translated as "speech" in other translations) and we think that all leaders must be great orators.  This is simply not true.  But all great leaders must be great communicators. They must be able to convey their plan, their intent, their message, or their expectations clearly through the use of words.  Written, acted, or spoken.  Throughout my life I have known and in some cases worked under leaders who held a position of power but were in fact terrible at communication.  In some cases they simply did not express clearly their position, in other cases they did not express anything at all.  So for me, a leader who does not clearly articulate their vision is a poor leader.

As teachers, we must communicate.  We must model good communication, and we must allow students opportunities to communicate.  Yes, papers are a manner in which students communicate, but we cannot rely on that solely.  In my classes, discussion is prized.  Verbal communication is how I get my students to process the content- I want to hear them express it in their own words, on the fly.  I want my students to engage in debate, to disagree vehemently in an environment where I can coach and guide the arguments to a constructive end.  I want students to have to speak extemporaneously and with prepared speeches before their peers.  This allows students to develop those necessary communication skills.  I want my students to work in group projects because the back and forth there will develop leadership skills in all participants.  Over all this, as teachers, we must model leadership by word.  In our written correspondence and in our spoken word, we must demonstrate for students clarity of thought, eloquence of diction, and imagery of the story or lesson we are trying to convey. 

 Not every great leader was a great speaker, but every great leader MUST know how to communicate their vision.

Demeanor
Your demeanor, or attitude, determines your effectiveness as a leader.  It is no secret that a teacher's attitude can set the environment for a classroom.  A teacher who is angry, or tired, or burned out will struggle to lead their class.  In the same way, a teacher whose attitude is one of "You do it because I am the teacher and I said so," will not inspire leaders- or much learning.  Teachers must model an attitude of expectancy and humility.  Students will grasp that their educators believe something will be learned in that lesson, but also that teachers are not infallible.  Some translations call this characteristic of leadership "life."  Teachers can inspire leadership from students in their classes by sharing their lives.  Teachers who share their interests outside the classroom are able to build relationships with their students because their students see them as humans.  And teachers who are willing to share their interests intentionally or accidentally inspire students to share their lives with others as well.

If we want our students to become leaders, we must encourage them to attitudes of openness.  We follow people we can relate to and connect with.  We feel this way because their demeanor is welcoming and open.  As teachers we strive to demonstrate this attitude with students- now we must encourage our young leaders to emulate this demeanor with their peers.

Love
It is often the most difficult leadership quality to display and instill, but love is perhaps the most important.  (Yes, even more than communication, says the Speech coach grudgingly.)  "They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."  Cliche?  Yes.  But it is true.  Students spot a phony as quickly as voters spot a disingenuous politician.  And it is easy to love the top student, or the super sweet student.  But to love the student who spurns your every effort at support?  To love the student who will not stop disrupting?  To love the student who is a bully?

It is NECESSARY that we love these students.  To work toward it.  Because great leaders demonstrate love.  Love for country, for deity, for subject matter, for others.  We must teach students that loving the unlovable is what makes leaders great.  But we must also show that "love" does not always mean "like."  I will strive to always love my students, even when I may not like their attitude or behavior.  In fact, it is my love for the student that inspires such great dislike for their attitude or behavior- because want so much better for them.  It is this kind of love that great leaders like the ones we teachers hope to make demonstrate.  

Faith
There are all kinds of faith.  Faith in religion, science, humankind, the natural order, et cetera.  Great leaders have faith in something.  As educators, we should strive to point our students towards having faith in something- themselves, their subject of interest, their future, their God, a cause, or simply something greater than themselves.

Leaders believe in something.  They believe in it so strongly, that they convince others.  But somewhere along the way, those leaders were believed in.  Perhaps that is what we need to do most in teaching our students faith- to put our faith in them.  I try to regularly remind my students I have faith they can do it.  I look anxiously for those moments when I need to tell a student I believe in them.  And occasionally I give the necessary push to one student to tell another student that they believe in them.  Faith is powerful.  It reminds us what we are capable of, and we can use it to remind others what they are capable of.

Integrity
It is sad that we live in a time when leaders are always seen in a lapse of character.  It seems we have accepted that it is just bound to happen that a leader is going to get caught in some scandal or in some lie at some point.  This is why it is all the more important that we model and teach character and integrity to our students.  We as teachers CANNOT take the shortcut.  While we must model mercy, we must also demonstrate justice.  And when we do make mistakes, it is incumbent upon us to be honest and accept and admit our error.  Students see how we act, and they know when we are different that what we say we are.  "Character is who you are when no one is looking."  Another cliche- but another truth.  

We cannot expect integrity in our students until we demonstrate it for them.  We cannot violate extra-curricular practice time limits and justify it with "Everyone does it."  We cannot bend the facts in a lesson to make it easier to teach and say "Its just a white lie, they won't know any better."  We must not be afraid to stand on our principles even when we know that students do not agree- they may disagree, but they will eventually respect that we had integrity.

Students will inevitably have to learn the hard lesson that a failure in integrity will always be discovered...eventually.  When a student falters, they will need to learn to accept that they messed up, own that they messed up, and work to see that it does not happen again as they deal with the consequences.  And consequences are vital- they must be applied.  There are times for grace and mercy, but there are also times for justice.

Do Not Look Down On Them
I have always hated the phrase "The children are our future."  It does our youth a terrible disservice.  They are capable of being leaders NOW.  They are capable of affecting great change NOW.  Let us speak with (words) our students as adults, with all the expectations and responsibilities that come with that.  Let us express and expect attitudes of maturity and humility (demeanor) from ourselves and our students.  Let us care for (love) even the most hard to understand and appreciate, for they are the ones who need it the most.  Let us believe in (faith) our students hopes and dreams- and the students themselves.  And let us model and expect character (integrity) from ourselves and our students.  

And perhaps most important of all, let us not look down on them because they are young, but let us look to find in them examples to inspire us to be better teachers and leaders.

3 Keys to a "New" School Culture

My school is basically a toddler. 

Three years ago, it was being knit together by the careful hands of a bunch of construction workers. Two and a half years ago, it was born and began its life. A year and a half ago I became a teacher, and joined up with the barely-out-of-infancy school. 

I love that our school is new. We are building something new, each year is full of firsts- this year it is our first seniors. There is an air of excitement in classes, on fields, on stages, and even in the halls. This mood and approach to education is so important to the life of a school. Excitement quickly spreads throughout the faculty and amongst the students. Excitement turns to readiness to learn and eagerness to engage and create more new and stronger lessons and environments. This newness is something I realize that I am taking for granted. MOST schools are established, and doing "new" things does not come easily. 

That being said, I do believe there some things that all schools can and should do to recapture the "new." 

Culture

It begins and ends here:  new things are expected and encouraged. Cultures are shaped by perspectives, the perspective that breaking from tradition in a meaningful way (not change for change's sake) is healthy and necessary. "New" culture is all about openness- the new teacher and the established teacher have equal share in the building and growing of the school environment and attitude. Experience carries equal weight with ingenuity, and both work to balance each other out. New teachers invigorate the established, the established guide the new. In short, the culture of a "new" school is built around team. There is no room for condescension or elitism amongst staff or towards students. This culture allows students as well as educators a hand in the life of the school.  If that seems like a risk, it's intentional. 

Risks

Educators MUST have a culture that encourages and even expects risks to be taken. They try new technologies, new formats, new lessons. Teachers who are taking risks demonstrate to students that sometimes failure is a part of learning, and that getting back up after a failure is how to pursue success. Administrators who take risks inspire teachers- and make them feel safe to try audacious things. 

If you are an established school, recreating a culture of the "new" can be difficult. People, and therefore teachers, don't like change, so opposition is to be expected. But you are a risk taker, right?

My admnistrators take and encourage calculated risks. So our staff follows suit. My wife teaches at another campus in our district that is very established. Her principal is doing an amazing job of recreating a culture of the new- integrating social media seamlessly in his leadership and around campus, and challenging teachers to re-evaluate why "we've always done it that way" in a way that gets results and minimal pushback.  

Flexibility

New is not easy. New schools try things that do not work. New schools have to change plans on the fly. 

If you want to reclaim the new- you need to bend a little. If you are taking risks, that's a great start, but flexibility also means being willing to give people a second chance. 

Teachers and students. 

Flexibility may mean you have to allow students a chance to re-earn your trust. This is terrifying.  But it is necessary.  If you as a school are dedicated to a second chance for your educational approach, there is no better way to get the students on board that practically demonstrate a second chance by offering them one. 

Let students have a voice in the new direction and a say in the expectations. 

Student-centered instruction is all the rage, this is student-centered educational culture. It helps to build a relationship between student and teacher that is vital to the culture of the "new."

*****

One of the reason I was so excited to start at my school is that as a new teacher, I would get to grow with my school. But shouldn't that be the case for all teachers and all schools?  Schools and teachers growing, maturing, and developing together is a healthy relationship. One I'm glad to take part in, and hope all teachers and schools can find for themselves. 

New Years Teacher Resolutions

I'm not really sure if this should be posted tonight- technically for teachers, this is mid-year, not New Years- but I'm going to anyway. 

I'm a big believer in constantly evaluating myself. "Did I teach that right?"  "What is a better way to handle that topic?"  "How can I strengthen/fix that relationship with the difficult student?"

New Years resolutions are great for that, so here are mine. 

1.  Use Google calendar more effectively. I am a busy teacher. Co-sponsoring a very active StuCo, coaching a growing and developing Speech and Debate team, two daughters entering the active tween years, a wife who teaches as well, tons of  student activities to go see- oh and classes to teach. I've started using my calendar, but it's time for some next level calendaring. Setting up reminders as much for me as well as for my students has already started to help, but there is so much more to do. Which also helps with my second resolution. 

2.  Get more organized. I've never been a neat freak. I've always enjoyed kinda making things up as I go along. But those two endearing personal traits are not going to work all the time. Again, I'm going with a Google shout out- Gooogle Forms are an excellent tool for debate meet sign ups and planning questionnaires for StuCo. For the classroom, they can be used for class feedback (something I'm getting to in a little bit) and maybe some quiz taking, but I need to experiment more with that. I hate keeping up with papers, so I want to go more digital on class work. I'm also resolving to not let my desk get cluttered.  So I plan to introduce an assignment filing system. I've seen and heard from some other teachers what they use, but am open to suggestions. 

3.  Work on my teaching weaknesses.  I expect a lot of my students. I want them to put their best work forward. I have no problem pointing out to them when they don't. It is only fair that I be made aware when I'm not doing my best. I resolve to ask for more student feedback. What do I do that works?  What do I do that doesn't?  I know I cannot rely solely on student feedback, so I want to be better about asking my peers for guidance and advice. I am fortunate to work at a school that encourages peer coaching- teachers observing and encouraging each other. I want to observe my fellow teachers more, and hopefully see if they will observe me. Seeing the great results of peer coaching so far, I look forward to more opportunities. 

4.  Strengthen relationships with students...and teachers.   My students know I care about their success, they know I am willing to- and do- fight for them. But I want them to know I care about them. Personally. That I care about their extra curriculars, their work, their interests, and their struggles. That means going to games and performances, Googling ( I should get some sort of fee for endorsing at this point) the artist they can't stop talking about so I can carry on a conversation about something they care about do they are more willing to listen to the lesson I need to teach them. And teachers- communication is so important and it so easily gets overlooked. Sharing ideas, asking questions, digging into the content we teach together. Why do students miss those TEKS/standards more than others?  We can evaluate data- and the numbers show what is missed, but we need to discuss why they miss them. The relationships with students and with teachers cross here- if we know what is going on with the students, we can adapt our approach to see success. 

5.  Work on student weakness while strengthening student strengths.  In a previous post (http://amidoingthisrightteachers.blogspot.com/2014/11/good-to-great-yeah-it-book-title.html?m=1) I talked about not neglecting the stuff students do well on, because that's how you move student scores from passing to excellent. I won't rehash that here, but I plan to reteach not just the things students don't get, but also the stuff they did get in September so they do not lose it by May. 

That's my list- what about you?

Good to Great: yeah it's a book title

I coach Speech and Debate, and yesterday my team had their first meet of the year. About half our squad were rookies, including some freshmen. One of our CX teams, two freshmen girls, got the results for their first round- they had won!  One of them immediately responded with "But we did awful!  We didn't do this or this or ..." And she continued on until I stopped her. 

"But you won!"  She looked at me with a confused look for a second then I continued. " Even if you win by one, you still win. Focus not on what went wrong, but what went right. Enjoy that moment!"

A little more than 24 hours later, the teachable moment for me finally lit up. 

While we must work on our weaknesses, if we neglect our strengths they will atrophy. 

I teach in a class with an End of Course exam. We have data meetings where we all try to figure how to reteach the areas our students struggle in. This is important and necessary. But I rarely to never find myself pointing out what went well- when the kids got it right. Or if that is mentioned, it's a quick "Yaaay!" then back to the low TEKS/questions. 

What if we are missing a chance to take our students who are doing good and move them to great?  What if by occasionally offering our struggling students a chance at repeating success we tangentially inspire them to figure out what they missed on the harder stuff?

When I have students I had last year come back and visit, they will ask me what we are talking about now. These were honors students, "A" students who scored tops on their EOC's, and they often have trouble remembering the things they had so easily the year before. This hurts me. It makes me feel like I "successfully" taught students to succeed on a test, but didn't leave a lasting impression and love for the material that I desperately want to share with my students. 

Students need more than just "attaboys" when they do well. They need to be reminded that they did well and the should probably get frequent chances to demonstrate that they got it right. I believe strongly that success breeds success. Case in point- that Speech and Debate team I opened with had 12 -15 people on it last year. We had some successes, and this year we have at least 30. And my teams who won yesterday are hungry for more wins. 

I like to be reminded that I am good at things. It's great to hear it from people- "attaboys" are important- but actually tasting success and feeling success is so much better. And I remember those second successes better because there is reinforcement of correct and good actions from the first time. 

While I want my students to pass, I do not want that to be my end goal. I want them to be more than good, I want them to be great. I do want them to love what I teach. But I really want them to realize that they are capable of doing more than they think they can. 

So, when my students "get" a concept, I will try my best to not just accept that, but build on that while not neglecting the weaknesses. 

Now, if I just knew how to practically do that...

Fighting For Students, Not With Them

Today I spoke with a student who expressed to me he did not plan to graduate. I asked him what his plan was, long term. He seemed shocked that I asked him- not in a condemning tone, or by getting my "I'm a teacher and I know better" voice on- but in a genuinely curious tone. "I don't know."  He kind of looked like it was the first time he'd been asked that. I told him that as long as he was still in school, I wanted to know how I could help him do a little better, find some way better serve him as a teacher. I asked him to think about those ways I might help. As he walked away, I don't know if he was thinking about what I said, or just moving on. But I'm going to ask him, repeatedly, if he has found something that I can do. 

Round one. 

In that one moment- by accident, intuition, or something else- I did not admonish him for chooding the "not graduating" path. I expressed genuine concern. And by doing that, there was no escalation, the fight that began was for the student, not with them. 

Daily, students try to push my buttons. Just like the do every teacher. Sometimes, I fight back, I give them what they want, even if it is negative attention. Other times, my laid back attitude pays off and I start a conversation that has a chance to reveal the kryptonite to a students barriers. 

What does fighting for a student look like?

I tell my students regularly that I believe in them, that I know they can do it. I try to ask them what I can do better- because I am not perfect. I fight for them by ignoring behaviors that I know are just for attention. I fight for them by trying not to  take it personally when they talk over me- sometimes I succeed. I am working on being better at standing up for the students who are afraid to stand up for themselves. I genuinely like my students, and I want them to know it. I strive to earn their respect, not demand it. And in those moments when I need to demand their respect, I will have it. 

But one of the biggest, most practical ways I fight for my students is to try to find tools and techniques that will help struggling students succeed. I suggest things like flash cards, or using reviews, and I am working on videos of lectures they can view at any time. But I am still relatively new at this. 

So, teachers- what advice can you offer me?  What tools can you share to help me fight for my students?

What Do You Do?

The following is an imaginary conversation, FYI. 

"What do you do?"  

"I teach US History and Psychology."

"Oh. But what do you actually DO?  Architects design, doctors heal, lawyers build and argue cases, athletes compete, bus drivers transport, custodians clean, dentists terrify people. What do teachers DO?"

"Well, the short answer is I try to give students information in a way that allows them to retain said information."

"And the long answer?"

"Well, where do I start?  See, I have to learn about a topic. If I'm lucky, it's one I like. That means I have some background information on it to build on. If I'm not lucky, it is some obscure person or event or concept or book that about 12 people in the world are interested in- and none of them are my students. So, I have to learn an interest in that topic- learn, not feign, because students smell fake from a mile away. Oh, I have to learn that topic well, because one of those 12 people has about four degrees in this topic and wrote a few books and- more concerning for me- maintains a blog that comes in as the number one result on Google that my students will immediately find (because we are a "Bring your own device" campus) and correct me on. This will hurt my cred."

"Cred?"

"Credibility. See, I also need to know most slang. And cred is actually old now, so I would have had to deal with students mocking my out-of-touch wording. That means I have to redirect- teacher speak for stop chasing the rabbit and keep focus.  This takes a lot of quick thinking- 'How can I connect back to the important but obscure topic in 30 seconds or less?'"

"Wow. That's a lot to-"

"I'm not done yet. See students today have two needs- one they want to see fulfilled and the other they don't. They need to be entertained. This one they want. So, I have to make the lesson over the obscure topic interesting, fun, relevant, and relational. It is kind of like being on stage, live and you do four to six shows a day. And fourth period is the matinee show, so it's packed, and the 'audience' is hungry and or sleepy. You have to be more on point then than any other time. But the other need is rigor- teacher speak for challenging material- so I cannot just go through the motions. I have to ask insightful questions, pose questions that expect students to evaluate and investigate and create and synthesize the information. Because there will be a test they are expected to perform well on."

"So, I guess you hate tests?"

"I'm not a huge fan, but they are a necessary evil. We need to know what students have learned. What I don't like is the weight they carry on teachers. We have to take the tests seriously, but not teach to them. I feel kind of gross when I realize I am getting more concerned about students passing the test than I am students gaining interest in that obscure topic."

"But didn't you just learn that topic?"

"Yes. But you know what?  What better example for the students than for me to have actually started to care about the obscure topic I just learned about?  I am showing them that even an "old" person can learn new things. And the truth is, now there are 13 people who care about the topic, because now I kinda dig it."

"More slang?"

"No, that one is clearly me. See, you asked me what I do?  I try every day to get my students to fall in love with the subject matter I teach. But that's hard to quantify. So, I tell you the other stuff first, I draw you into a conversation, then I reveal how much I love what I'm taking about. If I am successful, I have built a relationship with you where you like and respect me enough to want to know the obscure topic because you like and respect me and I care- truly care- about the obscure topic. By the way, if I demand a student's respect but never actually try to earn it, I will never have it.  I have the unique and awesome responsibility of caring for twenty to forty students educational and emotional needs for an hour at a time. And then when I see them at their jobs or at their events or at the mall on Saturday I have to still show them I care- not because it's my job but because it has become who I am- I care about these students far beyond 8:20 to 3:45. I am concerned and hopeful for their futures, excited for their successes, heartbroken for their failures, and there for them when they need someone.  What do I do?  Everyday I design lessons, heal students who are hurting, build and argue both sides of opinions, compete for students' attention, transport students from lacking knowledge to understanding and application, clean up misconceptions and wrong answers and often the floor beneath their desks, and when behaviors demand it, I have to try to terrify people."

"Oh.  Wow. Ok, why do you do this?"

"Because it is so worth it."