-
Describe a recent time when you’ve been discouraged with a student’s progress. Have you witnessed a change in the student’s life, or are you still waiting for that change to occur?
-
The school I work in specializes in the education of children with special needs. This means progress can be very slow, especially where deep concepts are considered. This also makes our work as Christian educators even more challenging yet rewarding in that it may take an entire semester for a student to grasp the concepts of Scripture, even basic ones such as Jesus is savior, Jesus is Lord, Jesus is God. So when our students tell us or their parents about the Lord Jesus Christ, we are always elated in that recognition of sinking in of His love for them through what they have learned at our school. We witness change slowly, but it is such a joy when the change occurs.
-
Two years ago I was very disappointed with a student who says he/she is a Christian but will not see the connection between Christianity and losing self-centeredness, disrespect, self-love, pride and condescension. There has been no change in spite of our conversations. He/she will have to fall from that high horse, as God says all who stand up in pride will, before he/she will understand any need of a Savior and real Christianity. So many in Christian schools are social, cultural Christians but have never been given new life by God.
-
At the start of the last school year, students coming in as freshmen went through shock at the difficulty of my honors Biology course. Many complained. Parents complained. I stayed the course and continued to teach with patience, love and lots of prayer over my students. Word spread that my class is so hard and another teacher came asking what’s going on. Instead of being discouraged, I told my students to stay the course and that with discipline, persistence, and faith, the students would learn and grow. By the end of the year, students and their parents confessed how much they grew through the course and learned how to study and how worth it the class was.
-
A student started off the school year pretty much on the same emotional and academic levels as their classroom peers. There were some minor but noticeable behavior conflicts, but we managed to move forward. I had been informed about notorious behavior problems during the previous academic year, but I attempted to just move forward with mindfulness towards classroom management.
Thankfully, we were able to schedule an evaluation mid-year and the end of the year assessment revealed/confirmed Autism.
The “not knowing what to do” during the span of the calendar year definitely left me feeling quite discouraged with the student’s progress. It honestly left me feeling quite inept, overwhelmed and angry with myself. Upon receipt of the Autism assessment, it obviously gave me quite a different focal point. I think I witnessed the biggest change in my own life, and then (with a more willing and open heart) was better able to serve the student along with their social and academic needs. It was most definitely a difficult challenge.
-
This past school year I was very discouraged with the continued behavior and lack of motivation to change for one of my students. Half way through the second quarter I saw a marked change in this student. He was motivated by discipline and reward where in the past he would rejoice at being punished and say that his parents wouldn’t care. The incident which caused such change was the return of his father into his life. It was remarkable to note.