Classes started today. The first day is (relatively) easy. Get the kids where they need to be, introduce yourself, read through the course expectations (to be read: give them a healthy respect for your class if they didn't have it already (to be read: make them tremble in fear when they see you walk in the room)), introduce the course, make fun of students, etc.
The kid part is the easy part. I like the kids and (in general) the kids like me. It's the other parts of teaching that I'm not so sold about. When it comes down to it, I don't really care if sophomore boys understand Shakespeare's use of ambiguity. I like Shakespeare, I think he's clever, but there are dozens of other things I think are more important for 10th grade boys to discuss. For example: who am I (specifically, who am I because of what Christ did), what do I care about (or should I care about), and what am I going to do about that? Can those questions be answered through the vehicle of a literature class? Yes. Is that the most effective vehicle for me? Not sure.
When I began teaching, it was with the plan to teach for 2-3 years to get experience and then re-evaluate where God was leading. Now that I'm entering my 3rd year of teaching, I'm finding myself very torn. I love my kids, I love the school (I think this school is highly effective - it does what it sets out to do and it does it well), I love challenging kids to think, I love Boston... yet, I'm increasingly unsettled in what I'm doing. Is there a better vehicle for conversing with high schoolers (particularly urban high schoolers) about who they are (specifically, who they are because of who Christ is and what he did), what they care about (or should care about), and what they're going to do about it? I'm not sure.
If you're someone who prays for me (thank you), I'd appreciate you praying for direction for me. 1. is this what God has for me after this year? 2. if not, what? 3. how in the world do I go about pursuing something else?
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