Gratitude. That’s what I felt today when at the gym a 6’5″ guy came up to me with a big smile on his face and started telling me all about a group of monkeys behind a cart and where they were going and all that. He went on and on. I pretended to remember him, but he was at least a full foot taller than when he was in eighth grade. I couldn’t even remember his name or even his face let alone one of the stories we did in 2006.
He told me that of course he went on to high school with his French and, still upbeat, related, “I dropped out of French because my brain couldn’t learn that way after taking your class. He went on and on, but the one thing was how his eyes shone with happiness at how much he could remember. Detail after detail. The importance of travel was also a big theme in his remarks. He said at the end of his monologue (I could have gone on and on and on listening!) was, “You made a big difference in my education, Mr. Slavic Thank you!”
Yes, he dropped out of French in high school after satisfying the degree requirements. He said it was rough for him in high school. But the shine stayed in his eyes the whole time. In spite of high school and a miserable experience in junior college he told me that he thinks that he still thinks he can learn French and “any other language [he] wants”. I suggested that he was a language machine and he didn’t flinch one bit. I had gotten to him before the textbook teachers, so of course I was right! He also told me I need to “talk to those Rosetta Stone folks”.
What this experience did for me was profound. In an odd way I can admit that it really made my career. Yes – one 20 minute conversation at the gym made my entire career. At first I thought it made my day, but then I thought about it and decided it made my career. Amidst all the doubts I had because I was still learning about stories in those years (that will never end!) I made one kid confident and happy about learning a language. That’s good enough for me. To think that I was allowed in my life to work with kids and help them believe in themselves and in life while sharing one of the truly great languages and cultures in the world – what more is there, really?
So new teachers, my message is simple – have hope! You cannot know the effects of your hard work in looking everywhere you can, under every rock if you have to, to find a way of teaching that reaches kids in your classroom in ways that you may never, probably will never, ever know.