Christmas for Realists

I sat down to write a blog tonight about teaching and how it has been a rough go lately. I was going to title it, "High School Sucks." I had one of those typical high school moments today in the girls bathroom- the type of moments that happens in movies about high school. Some girl is in the bathroom stall when a bunch of other girls walk in. The girls start saying something really mean about the girl in the stall, and she sits there in mortification. Today the girl in the stall was me, and the girls were my students. Instead of sitting there, I walked out and confronted them- but I think I would have rather hidden in the stall.

I suppose that the bigger question that has been on my mind is having faith in humanity. Christmas is a season of faith and hope. Finding the glimmer of light in the darkness and knowing that it will return. I see kids doing terrible things to each other. I see students in my classroom that can barely read and write at a second grade level. I see girls who I fear will become young mothers before they have the chance to mature. I see students who give to the toy drive only because a teacher has promised a party to the class that raises the most money. I see kids that are overweight and seemingly do nothing but play video games during all of their free time. I hear kids using racial slurs, homophobic insults, and profanity that would put a sailor to shame. How does one find faith in humanity in all of this? What will our society look like when these children grow up?

I am struggling with these questions, and they are questions that I can't ignore. I see a snapshot of society in my classroom each day and they are right there staring me in the eye. Sitting there, too, however are students who amaze me with their intelligence. Students who say "Hi Ms. Zahm!" with enthusiasm each and every day as they enter my door. Students who ask intelligent questions that let me know that they are actually thinking. They are there and I need only open my eyes to see their presence.

Each day we are faced with choices. Are we going to pay attention to the obnoxious customer in the checkout line who is giving the clerk a hard time, or are we going to see the mom who is doing a fantastic job of keeping her kids entertained as they wait? Will we get bogged down by all of the bad news in the paper, or remember the story about people making a difference? Will we remember that we slammed our finger in the drawer and spilled our coffee, or that we did a really good job in that meeting? It's all there... and we need only choose.

If you know me well, then you probably know that I'm not encouraging you to put on your blinders as you go through your day. We can't view the world in only rose-colored glasses. I have always been proud of the fact that I am a realist- not a pessimist or optimist, but as a realist. If I am to be a realist, then I should view the world as it is: A world that has room for hope (even maybe just a smallish glimmer).

 

"And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling: 'How could it be so? It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!' And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! 'Maybe Christmas,' he thought, 'doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!'"