A moral for all....

There is, actually, a life lesson to be learned in everything that you do. Sometimes you have to look for it, and sometimes it smacks you in the face - I got a smack in the face today :)

When I first started teaching, you are required to do internships. I did my first one with a teacher who, in my humble opinion (of both then and now) wasn't the best I could have been with. She would ask me, an intern, when I walked in - "What do you think we should do today?" - Now, this wouldn't be bad if she had asked me previously to prepare a lesson, but she never did. She seemed unorganized and the students didn't respond well to her - which I had noted in my observations. About a year ago, I was cleaning my office and found those observations, along with an observation that she did on me for my supervising professor. It was the most negative thing I've ever seen written about me. That I wore jeans 1/2 the time, which wasn't appropriate, I wasn't prepared for class, and that she doubted I would ever become a good teacher - yes, she actually wrote that. Now, she never discussed any of these problems with me before writing this - which I could have taken offense at and dropped the internship or requested another placement. But I took it as a challenge and did all the things she claimed I wasn't doing. The jeans thing did really pissed me off, simply because she never sat down and said "here is the dress code" and I had seen other teachers wearing jeans. So, long story short - here's the moral of the story....

I bumped into this person today. And not just at the store or something - I was actually HER mentor for the day. She was more than a bit embarassed when she figured out who I was and realized that I have already achieved my national certification - something that she is working on right now. So, this girl who was never going to be a good teacher, has actually earned the highest teaching credentials in the country. The moral, you ask? You never know who you are going to run into again later in life - so be courteous and respectful to everyone you meet. Otherwise, you may have to swallow your pride later, which believe me after seeing the look on her face this morning - it was a VERY bitter pill!!