tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post6339974609633600743..comments2024-03-29T04:34:05.185-04:00Comments on CURMUDGUCATION: Twenty Two Years & Lost PossibilitiesPeter Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16511193640285760299noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-44512169282940987352016-06-24T14:12:45.515-04:002016-06-24T14:12:45.515-04:00About a month ago, I attended the memorial service...About a month ago, I attended the memorial service for a former student who was in my class when I was a first year teacher thirteen years ago. Many people spoke during the service including another former student, whom I haven't seen in years, who reminisced about my physical science class and all the goofy things we all did. I spoke right after him, one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever done. <br /><br />Later that same day, another former student took me out for a beer. She became a biochemistry major because of my advanced biology class and is now in her third year as a PhD candidate in immunology. <br /><br />I can think of no better example of the intangible impacts teachers can make on the lives of our students. I stood with my former students, mourning the loss of one of them then celebrated the amazing achievements of another. No standardized test can measure any of this. Last Cookiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08570870539403038017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-16398361272701650872016-06-23T21:03:44.679-04:002016-06-23T21:03:44.679-04:00Damn. Yes. Damn. Yes. Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01638646078223591586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-87150535668615838042016-06-21T23:04:18.091-04:002016-06-21T23:04:18.091-04:00Outstanding post, Peter. Thank you. Outstanding post, Peter. Thank you. Katy Yahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07930138717551689298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-40258419132334941882016-06-21T22:19:05.019-04:002016-06-21T22:19:05.019-04:00I had a student – let's call him Joe – who has...I had a student – let's call him Joe – who has ended up serving a life sentence for killing someone during an armed robbery. Unlike your situation I didn't know about it until I got a letter from the student.<br /><br />I had moved to a new school in the same district...about 15 (possibly 20) years later...and the letter came to me via the principal of my first school.<br /><br />Joe told me about his situation in prison and then went on to relate an experience he had in my class. It was third grade. One year, on a whim, I decided that I would have the kids make Fathers Day cards. School was finished for the summer a short time before Fathers Day and I told the students to save the cards and give them to their fathers on Fathers Day.<br /><br />Joe wrote to me to thank me for helping him make the card. He said his father had recently died, and that Fathers Day card was one of the last communications he and his father shared. <br /><br />Of course, it's true that sometimes we fail, but even in our failures we might have some kind of impact that we don't know about. Like you said, we do the best we can and often it's not enough...but sometimes it is, and most times we'll never know.Stuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15854925612517206979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-16600164764515537212016-06-21T21:42:59.907-04:002016-06-21T21:42:59.907-04:00I did my student teaching in the fall or 1979. I h...I did my student teaching in the fall or 1979. I had one of those marginalized students you describe. One Friday I asked him what he had planned for the weekend. "Mr. B, he said, tonight I'm putting on my party shoes." I was still in college and wish I has had the maturity and wisdom to give him some cautionary advice. I came back on Monday to find out that he was killed, walking on the local train tracks early Saturday morning, too high to get out of the way of the on coming train. Still have some pangs of guilt to this day.NY Teacherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06584135103498426410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-14891618459589129272016-06-21T20:56:03.941-04:002016-06-21T20:56:03.941-04:00Mr. Greene, this is perfect. Thank you for all you...Mr. Greene, this is perfect. Thank you for all you do for students & teachers.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01223251137400603071noreply@blogger.com