Injury Does Not Hinder Workmanship

WHEN:
Oct. 18, 2006 from 8:00-11:00 – Economics

WHAT:
When I walked into the classroom Wednesday morning Mrs. Jones quickly informed me that I was needed by another teacher. Mrs. Carslies had fallen down the stairs earlier that morning and believed she had broken her arm. Because the teachers have to provide their own substitutes for their classroom, Mrs. Carslies had to go (painfully) to the school to prepare materials and call a substitute to come to her class so she could leave to go have her arm x-rayed. Mrs. Jones asked me to go monitor the students in the lab as their teacher made her appointment and arrangements for later classes. Although it was obvious that Mrs. Carslies was in a lot of pain, she managed to smile and continue to answer students’ questions and was very polite and grateful for my presence.

SO WHAT:
I was pretty amazed at how well Mrs. Carslies managed to hold herself together in front of her students. I do not know that I could have kept myself together, under so much pain, while managing to plan and prepare for her students in the rest of her classes.

NOW WHAT:
Being exposed to Mrs. Carslies misfortune of hurting her arm allowed me to see that no matter what my outside circumstances are I should try to maintain the best attitude in front of my students. While the students were made aware of Mrs. Carslies accident, she did not use her pain as an excuse for not being able to plan for her students. Mrs. Carslies proved to be a real trooper.

CONNECTIONS:
This has made me wonder how I may or may not respond to certain incidences inside or outside of the classroom, be it personal or student related circumstances.