Day 4, 1/28/10
Just returned from watching a teacher cadet teach a lesson. Wow, she's good. She's a natural with her students and let me tell you, she has some potential troublemakers. She's been a cadet since her sophomore year and I've watched her grow into teacher she is today. She's always been prepared, even to the point of being overly prepared if there is such a thing. I never was concerned about her lack of planning or her not having a good work ethic. This year, though, I've seen growth in her relationships with the students. Sure, she's always loved kids, but the way she responded to them today was not the way most seventeen year olds respond to kids. She doesn't just play with them like a babysitter would. She nurtures, teaches, and disciplines them like a certified teacher would. Her level of expertise and experience often comes with years of actual teaching experience. She's way ahead of the game.

Another cadet told me today that she's going to incorporate exercise in with her teaching to an overweight boy. His parents do not let him go outside alone and they don't take him outside, either. Again, she was another living example of what is good in the world of teenagers today.

We spent some time silently reading in English today. I recommended Ray Bradbury to one student and he shared with me one of Bradbury's story. It was wickedly good. I won't write what is was about because I'm afraid that some people might think I deem the character's actions as an appropriate thing to do. For example, I love Poe's work, but I don't think it's a good idea to kill an old man just because his eye is annoying. I hope that my students and parents will understand that a person can read about immorality without becoming more immoral. Actually, in reading about the fall of man (like in LORD OF THE FLIES), I face my own depravity and I'm left being so thankful that I have a Redeemer.