January 22, 2009

Affirmation

Today was the second class of the new semester. Everyone showed up, including a new add, minus the girl who emailed to tell me she spent last night in the ER after she split her finger open when a window slammed on it. She's off to a good start, huh?

The beginning of the semester is kind of like a first date. You think you like this person and all, but you need to figure them out. What makes them tick, what sets them off, what kind of person are they really?

Things went smoothly enough. I had some decent participation and some good questions. For the most part, the students seem eager to please. We'll see what their first assignments bring next week.

As I was dismissing my class and the students were leaving the room, I heard a familiar voice from out in the hallway.

"Oh man, look, it's Mrs. B! Hey Mrs. B, how are you?"

I glanced at the door as I erased the white board, but I didn't see anyone. I laughed a bit and yelled back, "Who's out there?"

A friendly voice called back, "It's your favorite student!"

I recognized the voice. "Oh, then it must be Kevin!" I yelled back.

"Oh man, did you hear that? I said, 'favorite student' and she totally knew it was me'" I heard him telling his friends. I was cracking up as I finished erasing the board.

Soon he appeared in my doorway as the last of my students were exiting the room.

"How you doing Mrs. B? I miss this class. I miss you. This was the BEST class EVER!" he said. "You new students better treat you right!" he said giving them some warning looks. "I tell everyone I know to take this class. You're the best Mrs. B. I wish I could take this class again."

I couldn't help but smile. Not only had he said these nice things. He said them in front of my new crew of students. I don't think I'll really need to see the student evaluations when they come back. That was pretty much all I needed to know.