Playing favourites with my kids

June 28th, 2008 by lynnylchan under School Life

Some days, my job is so insanely fun it seems illegal that I’m being paid for it. Until, of course, the credit card bill comes back and I find out how teenagers can eat you into the poorhouse.

Anyway, the centre was undergoing some minor renovations today. Nothing that would have really disrupted the lesson, but the smell and the dust and the noise were getting to me, so my student and I ran away to a cafe and sat there for 2 hours, revising the chemical reactions of metals. We were joined by a second student, and the two of them proceeded to order drinks on my tab.

These 2 kids are good friends, so I had an interesting dynamic to deal with. All in all, it was more like taking my juniors out for a meal than conducting a lesson. By the time I got back to the centre, I had been gone for about 5 hours. My boss must have been wondering if I’d dragged them to another country or something. See what an awesome place I work in? I go AWOL for 5 hours and it’s okay!

It might seem like I play favourites with “my kids”, and I’ll admit that there are students to whom I feel closer. But I don’t really have my likes and dislikes. I’m only closer to certain kids because I’ve had one-on-one time with them, and had the opportunity to know them as real people, instead of just evaluating the academic part of them. I’m sure all the kids have interesting things to teach me, if I just allow them to let it out. Plus, they’ll tell me things about each other, such as who likes whom and who’s a good artist. Gossip is an integral part of rapport-building.

For some people, a job is just a job - something they do that allows them to make a living. For some people, it’s something more - it gives structure to their day and allows them to feel useful, even if they don’t need the money. But for a fortunate bunch, their job is their life’s work. It gives meaning and purpose to their life. Special needs teachers, religious brothers and sisters, doctors, activists - their work allows them to achieve their dreams.

My dream is to change people’s lives. And I’m slowly seeing that come true. This is why I work more than 40 hours a week - not because I have to, but because I want to. Today was supposed to be my day off, and I end up working until 9.30pm. Why?

Because this isn’t just a job. This is my work. This is my contribution to the world. Not better grades, but better people.

This will be my legacy.