As inspirational and as much as I have learned from the people in the other 25 posts I have shared thus far, it is this post and the subsequent subject manner within it that will inspire me to be a better person moving forward in potentially the next 30 years.
The reason I teach is because of students like Anjella Manucat. They inspire me to try to improve and be better each and every day. Some teachers gravitate to the misbehaving students. I generally try to gravitate towards the honorable ones, and I know my job would be much easier if all my students were exactly like Anjella.
In my one year of teaching in Las Vegas, I struggled tremendously (mostly with classroom management). The kids were crazy. The kids didn’t listen. The kids were disrespectful. My flash drive got stolen. Not knowing much, I figured I would just be nice to the kids and be myself, and hopefully earn their respect. It worked in certain aspects, but failed in others, but I’m glad I was able to connect with Anjella in a way that made her happy to have me as a teacher.
That year, it was her, and her small “good gang” of kids that pushed me into believing what I was doing was making a difference. Otherwise, I would have just felt like a failure. In seeing how much these students genuinely liked me and didn’t want to me leave, I persevered throughout the rest of the year. There was a part of me that asked myself why I was a teacher in the first place if all I was doing was babysitting and reinforcing negative behaviors (kind of like a zoo-keeper). My honors class (for the most part), kept me through it all.
I took the lessons I learned from Cram Middle School and have applied it thus far at Rise Kohyang Middle School. And even though I ended up repeating many of the mistakes from my first year into my second year, I eventually rebounded to have a partially successful third year of teaching.
Made by Anjella, this poster serves as hallmark and a reminder of my positive experiences in Las Vegas, and the great students I met there.
Still, I often look back and question as to what would have happened had I had stayed in Las Vegas. No doubt, I would be continually inspired by Anjella and all she has done in the classroom. I wish her, her group of friends, and everyone she knows good luck in the future.
Thanks for inspiring me Anjella, and keeping in touch. Hopefully you’ll come to college in California someday, and we’ll go grab some Phil’s BBQ together. The end. #26reasonswhy
