The Student Who Stops by My Door #SOL17

There is a student who stops by my door almost every morning. He smiles at me and I ask him about his day, his sports, how it's all going. My new students are usually walking in, or asking me a question, or need something, so this former student can't stay for long. But I'm so glad he comes by to see me. 

If you asked me last year to predict the students who would stop by and visit me, I would not have thought this young man would. I spent the first few months of school finding him very hard to reach. He seemed so disengaged, especially as a reader and writer. I felt like I couldn't make a connection with him. I even asked his second grade teacher if she had been concerned about him. She hadn't. 

Somewhere mid-year, the spark came. It was independent writing time, where he created his own illustrated books, that I first saw some excitement. Later he collaborated with a classmate to make a Google slide book about their baseball team. He even included an "About the Author" page, which made my teacher heart fill with gladness. He saw himself as an author. 

You just never know. That is one of the things I love about teaching, something that keeps me going when the papers and planning seem bottomless and it all feels like a steep mountain to climb. You just never know the students who will remember you, will look to see your smile at the start of their school day. And you can never give up on those kids that seem hard to connect with because they are probably really hoping you don't stop trying.

Tomorrow, I will look for my friend and hope he stops by to visit me. His smiling face reassures me that teaching, while so very hard, is still where I need to be.