According to the ongoing poll on the blog, some of you want to know more about me and what I do all day long :)
Well, a few weeks ago when we were having dinner, Jonas (my husband) received a call from a co-worker. His wife who is a high school teacher was searching for a temp for the school. That dinner was a blur, to say the least, since I am terrified about public speaking.....especially mean high school kids. It really was an out-of-body experience and I could just hear myself say yes. I have had a secret passion for a while and that is to teach and to make a difference in someone else's life, even if it's just one person. So even if public speaking scares me, it has also intrigued me.
Anyway, I went and it has been life changing!
I absolutely love those high school kids! They think they hide their feelings and thoughts so well but they really are like open books. Instantly you feel when you have lost them i class because they are bored, tired or don't understand what you are saying.
When I do something I do it passionately, even if is just as a temporary teacher for a few weeks. I love being able to inspire, sow seeds of hope and to discuss current topics, so that is what I did!
Since positive reinforcement worked so well for my cats - I decided to take the same approach with my high school kids :) It really worked wonders. Being able to say -Excellent, you read that really well! and for the student to get taller, blushing and being incredible proud of themselves was enough reward for me! One of the girls (who lacked confidence) really responded to my positive reinforcement so she actually stayed after class to finish off a really difficult English text. That they try is all I ask, and she did and she was so proud of herself when she left :)
There was another kid that was fairly new to the school, a bad boy if you will, that I felt an instant connection with. One day I took him aside to just talk about his progress in English and the day after he stayed behind and he just opened up...literally like a faucet. We talked about a lot of things, especially how important it is to talk to someone. As soon as you tell someone what is bothering you, you start to feel better. Don't you think?
I felt incredibly proud that this boy had the courage and trust to speak to me....a stranger that he just met a few days earlier. Later I asked the class to write a christmas greeting to their regular teacher and this boy wrote that I had been a good change for him and that he from now on would make a real effort in those subjects!! That almost brings me to tears :)
As much as I helped him, he definitely helped me back! And for that I am grateful!
All in all it worked out great!
Now I just need to focus as passionately to find myself a real job :)
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