Mentoring

There's a phenomenon in teaching wherein it isn't your favorite students that come back to visit you in subsequent years, but the kids who failed and caused problems. I suppose it makes sense that the teenagers comfortable enough to cuss me out are also comfortable enough to drop by for a casual hello. While it's nice to see the troublesome set in a more cordial setting, I miss not conversing with the kids I bonded with previously. I don't fault them, however, since when I was younger, my favorite teachers might as well have been dead in later years, even when they were still in the same building. I decided to rectify this situation with my own students by being direct. When I spotted last year's favorite (of baby in a dumpster fame), I said, "Stop by and see me sometime."

About a week later, the student actually did; I was ecstatic. For an hour, we talked about writing, education, college, poetry, the writers' strike. The student even showed me a book ey was reading by Kurt Vonnegut, which the student says ey loves, inspired by my own fascination with the author.

The student was having issues with eir current English teacher, primarily stemming from a comment the teacher made about not wanting to pay taxes that pay for illegal Mexicans to have their babies in our country. Whoa! That's not appropriate comment to make in most settings, particularly not in a classroom with a largely Mexican American student population. My student's initial reaction was to say, "Sorry for being born!" but of course ey didn't. So eager was I to help this student, I offered to speak to the teacher without really thinking about how I was going to realistically broach the subject of "Don't be racist in front of your students or, you know, ever." If you any have ideas, please let me know.

I fawned over this student. Maybe I should have limited the ego-stroking, but I told eir ey was wise beyond eir years and encouraged eir budding sense of social justice. I also did my best to empower the student to speak up against injustices eirself, to take opportunities to educate eir peers about their ignorance. Also, I pushed eir not to settle for Cs. Truthfully, I often did the same in high school, figuring if I learned I learned, grades were just some number that can't actually reflect my knowledge.

I share this experience because it's important to note that for every twenty shithead students I have, there's one I adore. I only wish the shitheads didn't take up so much of my time that I only get to enjoy the brilliant proteges in small doses. Still, if I make a mark during my short teaching experience, it'll be having mentored a few good kids and sending them out into the world with confidence and desire to challenge ignorance and social norms. It's the one thing that's still keeping me going.