When There's a Time...

Teaching is a rewarding vocation that nonetheless has the feel of being in a submarine most of the time. You rarely emerge into the glorious light to see the full fruits of your labors. So much of the reward that I've experienced comes from conversations with former students who look back on the days of "seed-planting" in their lives and find there were things of immense goodness and value that took root.

That is something--by the way--that goes beyond any professional development (which is still important), that goes well beyond any prior training or a multitude of advanced degrees. There are a number of moments in my career at four different schools where I have drank deeply of success; so what are those chronological nuggets?

(1) When there's a time in which a student faces a major test in my class, is worrying constantly about their performance, and then listens to encouragement that who they are is more important than the specific grade they make, then I've succeeded as a teacher.

(2) When there's a time in which a student understands that we learn best when we speak with one another, not at one another, then I've succeeded as a teacher.

(3) When there's a time in which a student learns and believes that there is a meaningful Center of the universe, and he or she is NOT it, then I've succeeded as a teacher.

(4) When there's a time in which a student realizes that--to quote Philip Yancey--"if you live through a moment, you can live through a day, and how you live a day is eventually how you live your life", then I've succeeded as a teacher.

(5) When there's a time when one of my students works on a group drabble assignment and creates a beautiful 100-word short story on the eighth commandment and joyfully cries out, "I've always struggled with writing all my life, but this I can do!", then I've succeeded as a teacher.

(6) When there's a time in which I convince a kid--even for a little while--that the motion picture of the beautiful art gallery of human existence and natural beauty that surrounds them is infinitely greater than any selfie on Twitter or photo on Instagram, then I've succeeded as a teacher.

(7) When there's a time in which a student--consciously or unwittingly--participates in even a little bit of bringing in God's dream for this world, then I've succeeded as a teacher.

(8) When there's a time in which my students know deep in the core of their beings that my classroom is always a safe place to ask questions, admit doubts, and to make mistakes, then I've succeeded as a teacher.

(9) When there's a time in which my students understand they are very small specks in the vast tapestry of the universe yet they are extremely valued by God, then I've succeeded as a teacher.

And...
(10) When there's a time--and this is my overriding goal every day--in which a student leaves my class with courage for the rest of the day and some hope for tomorrow, then I've succeeded as a teacher.