It's now my second year of teaching. I'm basically a professional. Many of my students I've had in class before. With my Geometry class especially, it's been awesome because I already know what they know mathematically so we've been able to pick up where we left off.
But one thing I've noticed since returning is this: my kids are growing up. My once awkward and shy freshman are now obnoxiously confident sophomores. My once obnoxiously confident 8th graders are now awkward and nervous little freshman. My old sophomores are transforming into leaders as they join the ranks of the upperclassmen. It's cool to watch this process.
In so many ways, high school is a hugely important time of life as far as development. It's the time of life when students really start to break away from what parents and adults say and start to form their own beliefs about things. It's a time when they discover what they think about things and begin to think about who they want to be. I feel like in many of my students' lives, I am getting a front row seat to that this year whether they realize what's going on or not.
And realistically this process doesn't end in high school. No, it's a long painful drawn-out process that we continue to undergo in our early adulthood. I may be graduated from school and working a real "grown-up" job now, but I am still in this process. And one of the big things with this process is you mostly learn by making a whole bunch of mistakes. At least, that's how I do most of my learning. Yes, I realize this is the third time I forgot to bring that electricity bill along to pay. Right, I understand I shouldn't have given the students that much trust and independence. Etc, etc, etc. Although I am somewhat successfully "adulting", I still make a lot of mistakes. I'm in many ways young and naive. Just like my students are.
I've recently looked around and realized that most of my friends are older than me too. Like 4 or more years at least. And while they maybe don't have it all figured out, they at least have things way more figured out than I do. Now they definitely don't lord that over me, but instead they give me grace. They patiently let me make my mistakes and learn and grow. They give suggestions and support, but ultimately still let me make my choice even if its not always the best one.
I recently have realized how grateful I am for the gentleness, grace and patience they give me. Because I realize as I deal with my students in their growing pains learning experiences, its not always easy to give. Sometimes I just wish they would already be at my level of maturity and it wouldn't be this long drawn out process. But I'm praying this year I would have that gentleness, grace and patience with them to lovingly guide and support them without trying to prevent them from making mistakes by me controlling the situation. We owe it to each other as we grow up to show that kind of love and patience with each other.
One of the biggest reasons we owe this to each other is because this is how the Lord deals with us. He knows that as our faith starts, we don't know much and we make mistakes. But He lovingly guides us to "mature" over time. It's not that we will stop making mistakes, but God has given us the grace to get back up, shake off the dust and keep going for each time we fall down. And today I'm thankful for that because that's exactly what I need. Let us thank God for the grace He gives us in growing up and let us give that grace to each other more fully.
