Good News and Teacher Appreciation

Two happy posts in one today:

1) My dad's MRI came back clean, which means no brain cancer, at least for now! I can't describe what a huge relief this is. At the same time, he is still experiencing all the symptoms which led the doctors to believe there might be brain cancer in the first place, and they now have no reason why. Symptoms minus the cancer is obviously the better scenario, but it is frustrating to live through severe pain and nausea without any idea what is causing them or way to alleviate the symptoms. If you could still pray that they would find what is causing these (especially the nausea) and be able to stop them, or at least diminish them, my family and I would be grateful. My dad's blog post on this is here.

2) This past week was teacher appreciation week, and, like in most areas, my school's philosophy was, "Why do a little when we could do a lot?" Every day, there were copious amounts of food from parents waiting for us in the teacher's office. Colombian fried cheese balls -- bunuelos -- were my favorite; basically, imagine something that tastes like a hush puppy but is the size of a baseball, and that's a buneulo. (Then try to imagine how my pants were fitting after eating 5 of these. On second thought, don't try to imagine that.)

In addition to all of the amazing food, there were flowers (which may be getting recycle for Mother's Day -- shhhhhh), massages, and a surprise trip out to dinner and the beach in a legitimate party bus, the likes of which I have only seen on MTV.

All of these made it an absolutely delightful week; everyone should get an "Insert-your-job-here Appreciation Week" because even though mine was completely over the top, it really does remind you that your work is important and valuable. On that note, however, one party was decidedly silent during Teacher Appreciation Week: our students. They were either unaware of the week (most likely) or, in typical teenage fashion, hesitant to engage in behavior that would make adults happy. But a few weeks before, they did write me fantastic letters to thank me for writing their high school recommendations. Granted, this was an assignment for another class, and granted, some of them were less than stellar, but a lot of them were very sweet and encouraging. My favorites, however, were the students who I believe genuinely intended to be sweet and encouraging, but have not yet fully mastered the art of giving a compliment.

Example A: "English class was great this year. I enjoyed myself in so many ways; even when you made your jokes that were supposed to make people laugh but they didn't. Just knowing you were trying to make our class better, I was already happy." I'm very thankful that my students give me points for effort in the humor deparatment. I'm even more thankful when they REMIND me that they are giving me points for effort, not success.

Example B: "You have worked so hard for us, and all of those students who don't realize it, one day, they will look back and feel horrible because you did everything you could for us." My mentor teacher and I laughed out loud when we read this. We think we should put it up as a banner in our office: "One day, they will look back and feel horrible." Good things to be encouraged by.

To all of you who don't get one, Happy Appreciation Week, and may you be appreciated in ways both as wonderful and as ironic as I have been this week. :)