Pugilistic Pupils

At some point Wednesday afternoon, I was beginning to think of careers other than teaching that interested me. I felt like Sonny Liston in that iconic photograph with Muhammad Ali. I was an enthusiastic teacher ready to take on the world but in the opening round of my fight I had been humiliated. The students were testing my patience and I had let them get to me. I was morphing into a negative teacher that had no control of the classroom. This transformation amazed me because I could see and hear myself growing more frustrated but I was helpless in trying to stop it. The end of the school day couldn't have come any faster.

I sat at home that night just reflecting on everything that went wrong during that day. I was determined to not let these students get under my skin. I prayed for a positive attitude knowing that my teaching career was destined to failure if I allowed negativity to overtake me. Thankfully, my frustrations started to peel away as the evening passed. By the time I was ready for bed, I was excited to get back into the ring.

With renewed energy and a positive attitude, I welcomed the students into my classroom. As I went through that day, I seemed to have an extra measure of patience that had been given to me. My whole outlook towards the students had even changed. No longer were they imps trying to torment me, they were children desperately in need of someone to help them. Returning to my classroom at the end of the day, I found myself wearing this goofy grin on my face that simply said, "Thank you God."