Perspective

My job is to make students think. But the best teaching days are the days they make me think.

She's not an outgoing girl .. not one of those kids that makes their presence known at every opportunity. She's in a small class - all girls - loud, drama-filled 7th grade girls. I'm sure she gets overlooked in other classes because she doesn't demand attention - negative or otherwise. She's pretty -- not in a way that 7th grade boys will take notice of ... but pretty, like you know she has the potential to be beautiful when she is older. The smile is genuine, but almost retreats before it appears which makes her seem even shyer than she actually is. When she came back and stood by the desk before tardy bell, all she said was, "hi", and "have you had a good day?" I told her yes, it had been an ok day and asked about hers. She'd had an 'ok' day as well. It was more the body language than the audible words...I sensed there was something else -- maybe she needed to ask about a grade, or to go to the restroom... I stood, gave her a smile, and picked up the papers I would pass out when the tardy bell rang in another minute. She took a step back to let me by, then turned and asked, "Mrs. Murphree, would you like to read my paper for Language Arts?" I don't have her for that subject, but told her I would love to read her paper. She retrieved it from her notebook and handed it to me, already in its protective sleeve.

The writing prompt was "a time you learned to do something". The story was a twelve-year old girl's memory of learning to ride her bicycle. "I pedaled and held on. I tried to keep looking forward to watch where I was going, but I had to turn around and check. When I looked, I saw my mom had let go and I was riding all by myself!"

I've been thinking about perspective in the last few days. I see it one way -- and justifiably so. You see it another way because of how it affects you. Nobody is really 'wrong' -- we're all just standing at different points looking at the same thing -- but because of where we are our views are different.

Because she was given the assignment to write about something she had learned to do, the student recalled a moment from several years ago and described it on paper. She may not have thought about taking those first few yards of road by herself in a long time, but the prompt helped her recall it. She shared the details of that significant ride in a way that made me experience the freedom she felt ... but my perspective was different. I saw it from the other side. I could only empathize with the woman who had let go of the back of the bike.

jm
2.15.11