Hoping against hope

[notice]Musings around children’s ministry. Reflections on week 9 of a 10 weeks teaching stint.[/notice]

He believed, hoping against hope, so that he became the father of many nations according to what had been spoken: So will your descendants be. — Romans 4: 18

So I’ve come to the last few days before my time at school is up. I think that the experience has definitely changed my take on what educators go through. My work in service to educators will certainly be more focused as a result of my 10 week practical.
My first order of business will be to add an ‘Anger management: Stress relief’ module to the Chaplaincy programme! Maybe even a teacher’s guide to repentance or a dictionary full of kind words to speak even when you’re on the brink of craziness you’re so cross!
This week in some of my classes, the term’s work is done and dusted and the assessment tasks done. There has been plenty of marking to do and my initial reaction to some of the low marks I gave was disappointment. As I recorded the learner’s marks, I noticed that in Natural Sciences one girl had obtained 9 out of 50 in her previous test! Suddenly in context the 22 and a half out of 50 she got this time round was an achievement. After I honoured the few students who passed I asked certain students who were close to passing (including this young girl) to stand up. I told them that if they improved on their tests in the same increment as they did on this one, that next term they were sure to pass well. I am praying that the accountability of being recognised in front of their peers will help them to remain focused for the rest of the year.

While the work is done, I am finding fun and interesting things to do with the children in my class to keep them stimulated for the rest of the term. One of the highlights of the week was getting one of the worst behaved classes in the school to stretch and do Physical Theatre during PE. They were all so focused on keeping up and not falling over that they forgot to be naughty!
Moments like that overshadow the darker moments when the learners cry over being disciplined or when they fail miserably in spite of their potential. As I said to the deputy Headmistress the other day, “You’ve just got to keep coming back and hoping against hope that you make a difference-even when it doesn’t look like it”.

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