"What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment. And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new. Right now." Author UnknownSince I (finally) signed up for a Facebook account, names and faces from my past are starting to show up, not necessarily in that order. What I find interesting is that my past students and other friends/colleagues fall into one of three categories: (1) the good, (2) the bad, and (3) the who? I tend to easily recall those students with whom I connected and respected; often they tell me of a lesson we did or a work they read that they remember that had an impact or made sense years later.
When I knew these students, most were teenagers between 14 and 18. Like the letter X (from the bottom up), our separate lives came together, connected for one or more years, and then moved apart, onward and, in most cases, upward to face whatever came next. Their stories are amazing! While I heard from one person who has been teaching for 21 years and another who spent years finding himself, I recall yet another who spent 15 - 25 years finding religion in prison.
If any of these people from my past read this, please feel free to nudge my memory a bit. I am middle-aged (if I live to 124) and need the occasional jog. Over the years, I have crossed paths with literally thousands of students, and those not in the first two categories above tend to blur a little. Physically, you change, so I may not recognize you right off - be gentle and understand. Interestingly, I usually recall with ease those from 20 or 30 years ago, but I have trouble recalling names from the past few years as the closeness we had with our students 'back in the day' has disappeared. It's like the more education "improves," the worse it gets.
Later.
When I knew these students, most were teenagers between 14 and 18. Like the letter X (from the bottom up), our separate lives came together, connected for one or more years, and then moved apart, onward and, in most cases, upward to face whatever came next. Their stories are amazing! While I heard from one person who has been teaching for 21 years and another who spent years finding himself, I recall yet another who spent 15 - 25 years finding religion in prison.
If any of these people from my past read this, please feel free to nudge my memory a bit. I am middle-aged (if I live to 124) and need the occasional jog. Over the years, I have crossed paths with literally thousands of students, and those not in the first two categories above tend to blur a little. Physically, you change, so I may not recognize you right off - be gentle and understand. Interestingly, I usually recall with ease those from 20 or 30 years ago, but I have trouble recalling names from the past few years as the closeness we had with our students 'back in the day' has disappeared. It's like the more education "improves," the worse it gets.
Later.
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