Faith's Findings

Phenomenally Not Me "That's not me. I mean I like it, but I can’t relate. I don't feel like that. I don't see myself as pretty and I don't have the confidence she walks around with." she said. And my heart cracked a little.   As I swallowed back the tears that formed, I wanted to grab her and tell her she was beautiful—that she was phenomenal—that her story was worth being told. I wanted to tell her that we have failed her.   "I get what she's saying. I want to be that, but I only see what I'm not in the mirror." From there, my classroom turned into a heart to heart between young ladies about the pressures of this world. And from there, I was able to sit back and I knew exactly how to finish the following letter. Dear Teenage Girl, I see you walk these halls hiding behind a facade.  I see the unhealthy relationship you let define you.  I see the drive in you to be wanted. Loved. Accepted.  I see the ...

A High School Teacher’s Humble Opinion on “13 Reasons Why” The kids were all talking about Hannah Baker and Clay Jensen. “Did we get two new students that I haven’t met?” Turns out, these are characters from a book (that I never got around to reading) turned Netflix series. By now, you would probably have to have been living under a rock to not know what I am talking about. If that offends you, oh well.  I saw some blogs that called for parents to not let their kids watch it.  I watched the show for myself and swore all of my students to secrecy as to not ruin details for me. All I knew was that my kids that are usually consumed with rap songs, inappropriate jokes, Coachella (still not sure what it is), kegs, and whatever else were having real meaningful conversations about some real taboo topics.  So, I sat down and watched the 13 episode series. I am not going to lie— It was tough to watch.  It was graphic. But, life is graphic.   ...

I once heard someone say something to the effect that a teacher's brain is like have 37,485 internet tabs open at once. Well, friends, I am here to tell you that is absolutely 100% correct. If you have ever wondered why teachers are exhausted by the last bell or the real reason we don't know what we want to eat, it is because for the better part of the day we are making numerous decisions, thinking our own thoughts, being needed, being called all kinds of names, teaching, trying to teach, laughing, crying, trying not to cry, trying not to laugh, becoming a master at holding our bladders, and answering the most off the wall questions.  The latter is why I am writing. Over the last two or three days, I have secretly kept a log of just some of the things that I have overheard students saying. Consider this just a glimpse into a teacher's day. “Planks will define your 6 pack 10 fold” “You smell like fountain water” “Look big puddin’!” “Anime man. Weird ...